By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter 

krussell@tribunemedia.net

TWO weeks after Transport and Local Government Minister Frankie Campbell rejected speculation he has dual citizenship, Attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, has confirmed he is looking into challenging in court whether the Cabinet minister’s citizenship can be rightfully established.

Of concern is whether the Southern Shores MP’s eligibility to run for Parliament and be elected to office was legitimate, Mr Munroe said yesterday. In an interview with The Tribune the lawyer said he was asked by former Senator Rodney Moncur to represent a constituent who wished to raise in court matters challenging Mr Campbell’s Bahamian citizenship.

The constituent provided certain documents, seen by this newspaper, including an affidavit allegedly sworn by Mr Campbell’s mother and another woman along with another document. The timeline to present the matter to court has not been established as Mr Munroe said several things have to be handled before that point.

“In essence what it amounts to is either the court will say that those documents aren’t sufficient to prove citizenship in which case he is not entitled to citizenship and not entitled to be in Parliament or the court will say documents of that nature are sufficient to prove citizenship,” Mr Munroe said yesterday.

“Then I suspect that tens of thousands of children of immigrants will be producing their documents to get their citizenship in the same way.

“Because if you do it for one there is no reason not to accept the same documents in the same manner in the same nature from other persons.

“I’ll put it to you like this, having looked at the documents in my view ought not to be accepted to establish citizenship, but if a court rules that they are sufficient to establish citizenship then that would be a judgment binding on the government so that it would have to accept these documents.”

He continued: “So for instance the affidavit is sworn by the mother and the friend. It isn’t sworn to by the father yet he carries the father’s name so somebody would be able to swear an affidavit 16 years after a child’s birth and ascribe his father is someone who may not been alive at the time and government agencies would have to register the child with the last name of that man.

“You would be able to swear an affidavit for instance today to say that somebody was born in the Bahamas before independence without the need of producing any proof from the hospital that the person was born in the Bahamas and they would have to accept that because that’s the circumstance in his case. So either his documents are acceptable and he is qualified to remain in which case all persons who produce documents of that nature are qualified to be given passports or else it’s not sufficient in which he is not qualified to remain.”

Earlier this month, Mr Campbell shot down speculation in Parliament that he has dual citizenship, declaring he never pledged allegiance to any country, but the Bahamas and had never had a travel document in the name of any other country.

He also gave authorisation for any foreign embassy in the Bahamas to supply anyone requesting evidence that he ever held citizenship of another country.

Mr Campbell expressed pride in his heritage, one that includes being born in the Bahamas to a Haitian mother, but living here throughout his life, experiencing the country’s transition into independence.

Speculation grew on social media about his citizenship after he made comments about having two passports in a short clip of an interview he gave on the Darold Miller Live show earlier this year.

According to the Constitution, a person is not qualified to be elected to the House of Assembly if they are a citizen of another country, having become that citizen voluntarily or if, “by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

 Attempts to contact Mr Campbell up to press time were not successful.