MP Holds 3 Passports

An Immigration officer in charge of Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Nolasco Nyiedu, has testified that Adamu Daramani Sakande, the beleaguered Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, has three nationalities. He told an Accra Fast Track Court hearing the case of allegations of nationality fraud against Mr. Sakande that the accused used three different passports of Ghana, Burkina Faso and the United Kingdom to travel at various times, and tendered documents of the travel history of the accused person to the court. The witness, who said this in his examination in chief, led by Ms. Gertrude Aikins, acting Director for Public Prosecutions, in a court presided over by Justice Charles Quist, also quoted various passport numbers as well as their expiry dates used by the accused person to travel, as well as his date of birth on various certificates. In addition, the immigration officer also read information on the places of birth of the accused person, while the date of birth of the embattled MP on the three purported passports remained the same. Mr. Nyiedu also read out information on the documents which showed that while he was said to have been born in Bawku on the Ghanaian and British passports, he was said to have been born in Burkina Faso on the Burkinabe passport. Under cross-examination by Yoni Kulendi, counsel for the accused person, the witness admitted that he was not the one who personally obtained the information from the accused person but was instructed to do so a few days ago. The witness also said he had been at KIA for two years. The case has been adjourned to August 18, 2009. Mr. Sakande, a security management specialist, is facing nine charges of forgery of passport or travel certificate, false declaration for office or voting, perjury, deceiving a public officer, registration offences, and unauthorised voting. The MP allegedly holds three nationalities. He is said to be holding the passports of Burkina Faso and United Kingdom (UK) in addition to his Ghanaian citizenship and has pleaded not guilty to the charges and granted a GH�10,000 bail with a surety. Hon. Sakande is appealing against the default judgment which ordered him to stop representing his constituency in Parliament, but the case was adjourned sine die because one of the judges was reportedly indisposed. Hon. Sakande suffered a terrible blow just a few days after the default judgment when his attempt to stay the judgment and for an opportunity to open his defence was thrown out by another Fast Track High Court. Presenting the facts of the case at the court, acting Director For Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ms Gertrude Aikins, said Sakande�s accuser, Sumaila Bielbiel, is a cattle breeder while the accused person is the MP for Bawku Central. She said sometime early this year, the complainant was informed that the accused person who won the Bawku Central Constituency seat on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was a Burkinabe citizen and realised that the security specialist �had violated the Constitution of Ghana by taking the country for a ride�. According to her, the cattle breeder made a report to the authorities who conducted investigations and it was revealed that the MP had a penchant for acquiring multiple nationalities because he had a Burkina Faso passport with number C10008625 which would expire in November 2009, with which he traveled to Burkina Faso on March 19 and returned on March 30, 2004.Furthermore, the DPP said the beleaguered MP also has a British passport with number 094442619 with which he sought and obtained a Ghanaian entry visa to travel to Ghana on December 13, 2005, adding that strangely enough, when he was traveling to the country again, he managed to get a Ghanaian passport while he was still a Burkina and British citizen. The DPP observed that the accused person therefore owes allegiance to two other countries and explained that non-citizens are not allowed to contest elections in the country.In addition, she stated that Mr. Sakande deceived the electorate on the misrepresentation that he was a Ghanaian and got his party, the NPP, to nominate him and the people of Bawku to vote for him to become their MP and said so far, there has been no evidence to prove the state wrong; hence his arraignment to answer the charges.Ms Aikins observed that the action of the accused person flies in the face of Section 94(2) of the 1992 Constitution which forbids aliens to stand for elections