Georgetown – The government announced on Monday that all members of parliament belonging to the ruling APNU+AFC coalition who hold dual citizehship have tendered their resignations which were accepted by the President.
The government did not name the affected MPs but it is widely known that those with dual citizenship are Minister of State Joseph Harmon, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, Minister of Public Service Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin.
The announcement comes days after Harmon had announced that all government MPs would be present when the House reconvenes as Cabinet had not taken a decision on those members with dual citizenship. But with Monday’s resignations, the government statement clarified that “These members will not be returning to Parliament therefore, when it reconvenes on April 11, 2019.”
The entire fiasco started with the December 21, 2018 No-Confidence motion moved by the opposition PPP/C and successfully carried in the House with the support of Charrandass Persaud who defected from the coalition and voted along with the opposition to defeat the government. In an effort to invalidate Persaud’s vote and maintain its hold on power, the government and its proxies took to the High Courts with a set of labyrinthian challenges. One of the government’s arguments was that Persaud’s vote was unconstitutional by virtue of his holding Canadian citizenhip.
The question of dual citizenship thus became moot and the High Court ruled Persaud’s vote as being valid.
The High Court went further to declare that constitutionally, persons with dual citizenship are not eligible to be members of the Guyana Parliament.
The relevant article of the constitution, Article 155 (1) (a) reads: “No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”
At the instance of the government, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s ruling making it pellucidly clear that several MPs in the Guyana Parliament needed to have their horns examined.
The opposition PPP/C said that the party will respect the courts’ rulings and that MPs Odinga Lumumba and Gail Teixeira, who are US and Canadian citizens, respectively, have indicated that they will relinquish their foreign citizenship. The way forward was yet to be discussed with a third PPP/C MP, Adrian Anamayah.
In the meantime, the matter of the legitimacy of the government will now move to the Caribbean Court of Justice after the Court of Appeal set aside the ruling of the High Court that the No-Confidence vote rendered the government unconstitutional.

London, England – In a brief and warm handover at the High Commission last month, St. Kitts and Nevis High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Dr Kevin M. Isaac accepted a one hundred and ninety-one-year-old (191) Map of St. Kitts from Dr David Eastwood and Barry Newton.
The map, which dates back to the Nineteenth Century, was drawn in 1828, when the island was being surveyed in preparation for the development of the sugar industry. The map initially showed lines, which would eventually sketch the routes for the railway which would be used by the plantations to transport their sugarcane to the sugar factory at Needsmust Estate in Basseterre. The Moody family, who is understood to have been the original owner of the sugar factory, later donated the map to the Booker Agriculture International (BAI), a company which oversaw sugar production in St. Kitts and the wider Caribbean islands.
For years, the map had been displayed at the offices of Booker Tate Headquarters in Bucklersbury House and later occupied a prime position in the hallway of Bloomsbury House in London. It was first mounted as a single piece but had to be reduced to four parts when the company downsized. High Commissioner (HC) Isaac regrets this development but admitted that whilst the cutting of the map may affect its financial value, its authenticity and worth to the cultural heritage of St. Kitts speak to a far greater value.
According to Dr Eastwood, when former Premier of St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla, Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw saw the map circa 1960s, he requested that it be donated to St. Kitts, but at the time the company rejected the idea. However, Dr Eastwood, insists, although the sugar industry has been decommissioned, given its historical significance and role in the development of the industry in St. Kitts, the map should be suitably displayed at the High Commission.
HC Isaac thanked him for the gracious gesture but insisted that this important historical document would be better placed at the National Museum in Basseterre and immediately contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organise for its transfer. Dr Isaac expressed profound gratitude to Dr David Eastwood, Barry Newton, as well as Mr. Bob Merry of Booker Tate for their kind consideration and remarkable efforts in working to reposition this map among the cultural heritage of St. Kitts and Nevis.