Questions were yesterday raised about whether Minister Oneidge Walrond had renounced her American citizenship before becoming a Member of Parliament (MP) and the Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs said he had not been supplied with any such document.
The constitutional injunction against MPs holding dual citizenship was upheld in the case brought last year against Charrandass Persaud and which ended up at the Caribbean Court of Justice. Since then, political parties and Parliament Office have reiterated that dual citizens cannot sit in Parliament.
Isaacs yesterday told Stabroek News that Parliament Office does not have a record of the renunciation of her United States citizenship by Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Walrond.
Stabroek News’ attempts to contact Walrond proved futile as calls to her cellphone, her ministry and its Public Relations Officer went unanswered.
“I do not have record of her renunciation. I have of all the other parliamentarians; Mister (Joseph) Harmon, Ms. (Gail) Teixeira…,” he said.
Isaacs said that while Liberty and Justice Party leader and current parliamentarian Lenox Shuman was not a Member of Parliament in the 11th Parliament, he submitted his documents to prove the renunciation of his Canadian citizenship.
“They themselves gave it to me. I have the others to show and I think it was circulated to Parliament also,” he said.
Stabroek News also reached out to Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira on Walrond’s status but calls to her mobile were either declined or not answered.
The Clerk of the National Assembly explained that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will send to Parliament Office a list of “all the persons who are cleared to be parliamentarians… that are on the List of Representatives”. But given that Walrond is a technocrat minister, her name would not have been with the others.
The Clerk said that he would try to reach out to Walrond to clear up the issue and access the evidence of her renunciation.
Stabroek News understands that Walrond had US citizenship and committed to renouncing it after President Irfaan Ali asked her to join his Cabinet. It is unclear on what date she activated the formal application for renouncement but sources close to her say that she is in possession of her Loss of Nationality for the United States.
There had been no public announcement of Walrond’s dual citizenship despite the public ferment over Persaud’s status which led to renunciations by a number of MPs.
