By Tabora Bojang
Citizens’ Alliance presidential candidate, Dr Ismaila Ceesay, has officially renounced his Swedish citizenship as he prepares to contest the December 4th presidential election.
Under the current Constitution, a person who holds the citizenship or nationality of a country other than The Gambia (dual citizenship) will not be qualified to run for president.
Dr Ceesay, a former senior lecturer at the University of The Gambia, obtained citizenship in Sweden in the late 1990s while he was resident and learning in the Scandinavian country.
However, since declaring his intention to contest the presidency, the CA standard-bearer, has been working on renouncing his Swedish citizenship.
In a letter seen by The Standard issued by the Swedish Migration Agency, Ceesay’s renunciation has been accepted and he is officially no longer a citizenship of Sweden.
This comes as the IEC announced that nominations for the much-anticipated presidential election will begin on 30th October and end on 5th November 2021.
When contacted, Dr Ceesay confirmed the development, adding that it will officially be announced by the CA national committee today.
“For me, it has always been The Gambia and Gambia first which is worth everything for me. This decision was made having taken into context the constitutional provision on dual citizenship to contest for presidency,” the Brikama-born politician said.
