Report on Citizenship Law: Ghana they were born outside Ghana and both parents had naturalised. Persons born on or after 22 August 1969 but before the 1979 constitution are citizens by birth according to the 1969 constitution, namely, if either of the parents was a citizen of Ghana at the time of birth, no matter if that birth was in or outside Ghana. And lastly, persons born on or after the day of commencement of the 1979 constitution (24 September 1979) but before the commencement of the 1992 constitution (7 January 1993) are citizens by birth if ‘either of [the] parents or one grandparent was or is a citizen of Ghana’ (Citizenship Act, No.591 of 2000, section 7). 3.1.2 Acquisition of Citizenship after Birth When it comes to citizenship acquisition after birth, the Ghanaian constitution’s focus is on citizenship acquisition through marriage. In fact, the section on ‘persons entitled to be registered as citizens’ (Constitution of 1992, section 7(1)-7(6)) only discusses marriage. Ghana’s current citizenship regime put an end to some of the gender inequalities that had been in place in the country’s previous citizenship law. Nevertheless, there remains one mode of citizenship acquisition which differentiates based on gender, namely, citizenship acquisition through marriage. Acquisition of Ghanaian citizenship is possible both for men and women married to a Ghanaian citizen ‘’.5 There are, however, gendered differences in requirements for registering for spousal citizenship, the right to Ghanaian citizenship after divorce, and the right to citizenship for a child depending on whether the registered spouse is a woman or a man. Overall, these provisions make it easier for a woman than for a man to acquire Ghanaian citizenship through marriage. Men married to Ghanaian women can acquire citizenship on easier terms than other foreigners but on more difficult terms than women married to Ghanaian men. Men need to permanently reside in Ghana to be able to file for Ghanaian citizenship based on marriage with a Ghanaian woman: ‘In the case of a man seeking registration, clause (1) of this article applies only if the applicant permanently resides in Ghana’ (1992 (1996) Constitution, 7(6)). The constitution does not define what period of time in Ghana would amount to permanent residence6 and article 7(4) adds a further vague provision for men to acquire Ghanaian citizenship through marriage, namely having entered the marriage ‘in good faith’. It also gives the authorities administering marriage a lot of discretionary powers: ‘Where upon an application by a man, for registration under clause (1) of this article, it appears to the authority responsible for the registration that a marriage has been entered into primarily with a view to obtaining the registration, the authority may request the applicant to satisfy him that the marriage was entered into in good-faith; and the authority may only effect the registration upon being so satisfied.’ (1992 (1996) Constitution, 7(4)) The Constitution does not mention any requirements for women to fulfil in order to become Ghanaian citizens upon marrying a Ghanaian. By implication, this suggests that women who marry a Ghanaian citizen need to fulfil no additional requirements to acquire Ghanaian citizenship. In the case of a divorce, men seem to also have a more difficult time retaining their Ghanaian citizenship than women in the same position. When a marriage is annulled, a woman who had registered as a citizen remains a Ghanaian citizen: ‘Where the marriage of a woman Is annulled after she has been registered as a citizen of Ghana […] she 5 Same-sex marriages do not exist under Ghanaian law. Queer sex is criminalised; a recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, passed in February 2024, further harshened prison sentences for queer relationships. 6 The 2000 Immigration Act details that spouses, no matter which gender, can apply for permanent residence after two years of living in Ghana, unlike other immigrants who can only do so after seven years (Immigration Act, No.573 of 2000, section 15 – 16). GLOBALCIT 9