{"id":91628,"date":"2025-12-09T14:31:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T14:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana"},"modified":"2025-12-09T15:58:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T15:58:51","slug":"parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana","title":{"rendered":"Parliamentarians Press for Citizenship Access in Ghana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Gambian lawmakers on Monday urged swift legislative action to resolve the longstanding statelessness of residents in Ghana Town, a coastal enclave whose inhabitants have lived for decades without formal citizenship or legal protection.<\/b><\/p>\n

During a debate on a motion introduced by Alhagie Babou Ceesay, the National Assembly member for Sabach Sanjal, legislators from across the political spectrum described the deepening marginalization of the community as a national failure that demands immediate correction.<\/p>\n

Musa Badjie, who represents Tallinding Kunjang, called for \u201caffirmative action\u201d to dismantle legal barriers that have excluded generations from citizenship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need affirmative action to correct decades of marginalization and other mistreatment of minority communities in a particular area, and one of those affirmative actions is to change the law. I think the National Assembly should make a strong advocacy to support the government to ensure that they give all of them a naturalization so that we start from there,\u201d Badjie said.<\/p>\n

Amie Colley, the member for Foni Brefet, warned that the absence of national documents has left both residents and refugees in precarious conditions. \u201cOur sisters and brothers in Ghana Town should be issued national documents,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is something that is really affecting refugees in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue also prompted questions about electoral participation. The member for Foni Kansala urged an inquiry into whether residents had been allowed to vote in previous elections. \u201cI wish our brothers and sisters in Ghana Town to be recognized, and secondly, honorable member for Sanehmentring, can you please investigate for us? We want to know whether they have voted in previous elections,\u201d he said, adding that formal recognition of the community was long overdue.<\/p>\n

Other members underscored the historic roots of the crisis. The representative for Busumbala described the statelessness of Ghana Town\u2019s residents as \u201ca long historic event,\u201d while Bakary Badjie of Foni Bintang condemned the denial of citizenship to people born on Gambian soil. \u201cAn African born in Africa, you still deny the individual the right to become a citizen of that country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nominated member Kebba Lang Fofana framed the matter as a rights issue, urging lawmakers to overhaul the statutes governing citizenship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is before us is of utmost urgency. We are talking about individuals who are born in The Gambia, and because of our laws, they cannot have our citizenship, and because of that, they are stateless. As a result of that, they have been deprived of so many privileges.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called on both residents and legislators to act on available pathways to naturalization and cautioned against politicizing the debate.<\/p>\n

Several lawmakers, including Fatou K. Jawara, echoed that appeal, urging colleagues to treat the issue as a humanitarian concern rather than a political one.<\/p>\n

The motion is expected to guide forthcoming discussions on potential amendments to The Gambia\u2019s citizenship laws, which lawmakers say have left entire communities in legal limbo for generations.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Gambian lawmakers on Monday urged swift legislative action to resolve the longstanding statelessness of residents in Ghana Town, a coastal enclave whose inhabitants have lived for decades without formal citizenship or legal protection. During a debate on a motion introduced by Alhagie Babou Ceesay, the National Assembly member for Sabach Sanjal, legislators […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-91628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nParliamentarians Press for Citizenship Access in Ghana - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gambian lawmakers on Monday urged swift legislative action to resolve the longstanding statelessness of residents in ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parliamentarians Press for Citizenship Access in Ghana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gambian lawmakers on Monday urged swift legislative action to resolve the longstanding statelessness of residents in ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T14:31:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T15:58:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765283138.64744.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Parliamentarians Press for Citizenship Access in Ghana\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-09T14:31:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-09T15:58:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana\"},\"wordCount\":501,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765283138.64744.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliamentarians-press-for-citizenship-access-in-ghana\",\"name\":\"Parliamentarians Press for Citizenship Access in Ghana - 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