FOLLOWING statements questioning the status of her dual citizenship, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond has affirmed that she had renounced her United States (US) citizenship before the first sitting of the National Assembly on September 1, 2020.
Walrond, an attorney by profession, in a statement on Saturday, said she was asked by President Irfaan Ali on August 5, 2020, to serve as a member of his Cabinet – an offer which she said she accepted because it afforded her the opportunity to serve the people of Guyana.
“As an Attorney-at-Law and being mindful of my status as a U.S. citizen, I sought the counsel of other attorneys on whether the sections of the constitution prohibiting elected members from being dual citizens applied to me as a technocrat minister.
“Despite advice that this provision did not extend to technocrats, out of an abundance of caution, I decided to renounce my citizenship to put the matter beyond all doubt and avoid any distraction to the good work of the government,” said Minister Walrond on Saturday.
According to the Tourism Minister, she wrote the U.S. Consular Office on August 18, 2020, renouncing herself of citizenship to that country, with immediate effect.
“I was thereof informed of the administrative procedure I must comply with to obtain a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States. I complied with that process by August 27,” said the minister.
After completing the process, Minister Walrond said she was issued a Certificate of Loss of Nationality, prior to taking the oath to serve as a Parliamentarian.
The Minister was not a candidate for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in the March 02 elections, but was selected to be a technocrat minister. The constitution provides for four technocrats to sit in the National Assembly once they meet the citizenship requirement to do so.
The issue of dual citizenship came up in 2019 after former Member of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Charrandas Persaud, crossed the floor in favour of the then Opposition PPP/C in a No-Confidence Motion against the APNU+AFC Government, in December 2018.
Following legal challenges, the Court of Appeal ruled that a person holding dual citizenship was not entitled to be a member of the National Assembly.
Article 155 of the Constitution states: “(1) No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who – (a) is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”
In 2019, this led to the relinquishment of foreign citizenship by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira and her colleagues Adrian Anamayah and Odinga Lumumba. It also saw former Ministers of government Joseph Harmon, Carl Greenidge, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine and Dominic Gaskin resigning as MPs while Harmon and Greenidge relinquished their foreign citizenships.
“I acknowledge that the eligibility of persons, who sit in the National Assembly, is an issue that Guyanese have a right to be concerned about. I further acknowledge that the public has a right to know that the persons who sit in the National Assembly are qualified to do so,” said Minister Walrond.
Walrond said persons have since asked the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, to verify her eligibility to be a member of the House.
“I do hope that the above (her statement) serves to clarify any questions that may have been raised in light of the comments in the public domain, and I publicly commit myself to work tirelessly to ensure that in the future, our Guyanese citizenship becomes one of the most sought after statuses in the world,” said Minister Walrond.
Walrond said she was disappointed to see the extent to which persons, on social media, sought to attack and vilify each other, as they took positions on the issue. Those persons were encouraged to raise their standard of interaction, as it will fortify cohesion and promote unity in Guyana.
