Former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is today crying foul because some members of his own party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), are questioning the nationality of his wife, Samira Bawumia, branding her a non-Ghanaian.
The irony could not be more striking. Just nine years ago, in the lead-up to the 2016 elections, Dr. Bawumia himself stood at a press conference and vigorously alleged that tens of thousands of Ghanaians—most of them from the Volta Region—were not truly Ghanaian.
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He presented scanned photographs, ‘suspected anomalies,’ and cross-references with Togo’s voter roll as ‘evidence’ that the Electoral Commission’s register was incurably flawed. In doing so, he fed a dangerous narrative that questioned the citizenship and belonging of an entire community.
At the time, his message was clear: many Voltarians, especially in border constituencies like Ketu South, were being portrayed as foreigners and therefore undeserving of their place in Ghana’s democracy.
This rhetoric, dressed up in statistics and stapled voter photographs, was used to justify a call for a new voters’ register. It was divisive politics that struck at the heart of national unity.
Today, as his wife becomes the target of the very same rhetoric, Dr. Bawumia finds himself on the receiving end of a brand of politics he once championed.
It is a painful but predictable lesson: once you open the door to questioning people’s nationality as a political weapon, that same weapon will eventually be turned inward.
Now, bear in mind. Those questioning the nationality of Samira Bawumia are not members of any opposition party. These are the very same people who supported Bawumia and gave him staunch support when he was determining who should be Ghanaians and who should not in 2016.
This episode should be a wake-up call for Ghana’s political class. Nationality is not a tool for political expediency. When leaders sow seeds of suspicion about who is Ghanaian and who is not, they do long-term damage to our cohesion as a nation. Families are hurt, communities are stigmatised, and the bonds that hold our democracy together are weakened.
The lesson here is simple but profound: citizenship should never be politicised. Ghana’s leaders must move away from reckless accusations that fracture our society. If Dr. Bawumia now feels the sting of such attacks, perhaps it will inspire a deeper appreciation of the need for inclusive, respectful politics.
As we move forward, we must reject this toxic cycle. Our politics should be about ideas, development, and solutions—not about questioning the identity of fellow Ghanaians.