BALOGUN & ORS vs. MINISTER OF INTERIOR [1959]DLHC5524

Date	1959-12-22
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1959]DLHC5524

OLLENNU J.

DR. DANQUAH FOR PLAINTIFFS.

AMISSAH FOR DEFENDANT.

[1959]DLHC5524
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >BALOGUN
&amp; ORS<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>MINISTER
OF INTERIOR <o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>[1959]
GLR 452&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Date:
22ND DECEMBER, 1959.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:31.0pt 31.0pt 1.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">

</div>COUNSEL<o:p></o:p>DR.
DANQUAH FOR PLAINTIFFS.<o:p></o:p>AMISSAH
FOR DEFENDANT.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:31.0pt 31.0pt 1.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF OLLENNU J.<o:p></o:p>(His
lordship referred to the pleadings, and continued:—)<o:p></o:p>None of
the plaintiffs can succeed in his action unless he is able to satisfy the
Court, by preponderance of evidence as in all civil cases, that he is a citizen
of Ghana within the terms of the Ghana Nationality and Citizenship Act (No. 1
of 1957) (see Cooper v. Slade (27 L.J. (Q.B.) 449), and Bruce v.
Attorney-General (Civil Appeal No. 2/57, judgment of Appeal Court, unreported,
delivered on the 24th November, 1957)).<o:p></o:p>The
section of that Act appropriate to this case is section 4(1), together with the
proviso thereto:<o:p></o:p>“4. (1)
Subject to the provisions of this section, every person born in Ghana, whether
before or after the commencement of the Ghana Independence Act, 1957, who
immediately before the date of commencement of this Act was a citizen of the
United Kingdom and Colonies or a British protected person shall be a citizen of
Ghana.” “Provided that a person shall not be such a citizen by virtue of this
section if none of his parents or grandparents was born in Ghana.”<o:p></o:p>To
succeed on his claim, therefore, each of the plaintiffs must prove three
things:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">(i) that he himself was born in
Ghana, and<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">(ii) that one of his parents, or
one of his grandparents, was born in Ghana, and<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">(iii) that immediately before the
commencement of the Ghana Nationality and Citizenship Act he was a citizen of
the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British Protected person.<o:p></o:p>None of
the plaintiffs could attend the trial because each had already been deported;
but witnesses were called on behalf of each of them.<o:p></o:p>For the
1st plaintiff, his uncle (P.W.1) and his mother (P.W.4) gave evidence that 1st
plaintiff was born in Accra, that he is a registered voter, and that he had
stood as a candidate in the Accra Municipal Elections just before his
deportation. The witnesses said that the 1st plaintiff’s mother was also born
in Accra. They said further that his grandmother (a woman proved to be too old
and infirm to be able to come to Court) had declared to Police detectives who
had interviewed her shortly after the commencement of this suit, that she
herself was born at Salaga in Northern Ghana, and that the 1st plaintiff’s
mother (P.W.4) was born in Accra.<o:p></o:p>On behalf
of the 2nd plaintiff his mother (P.W.2) gave evidence that he was born at
Ejisu, and that she herself was born at Kintampo. She said that she did not
know where her father c</main>