The Constitutional Court of the Central African Republic rules that the government’s decision to reward citizenship to Sango Coin investors is unconstitutional, claiming the nationality has no market value.
On 29th August 2022, the Constitutional Court of the Central African Republic ruled against purchasing Citizenship using Sango Coin.
The top court in CAR reiterated that purchasing citizenship is unconstitutional claiming the CAR nationality does not hold any market value.
The court claims non-citizens require a physical stay before acquiring citizenship in the country.
The Constitutional Court also notes the government’s decision to offer land and access to the country’s minerals such as gold through Sango Coin is unconstitutional.
The Sango Coin citizenship
Among the primary plans for the launching of the government-sponsored cryptocurrency was to allow foreign investors to acquire citizenship. A plan that would open up the country to foreign investments.
From the Sango Coin website, the foreigners would acquire citizenship by locking fixed collateral of Sango Coins. The foreigners would lock Sango Coins worth $60,000 for a period of five years. The owners would then get a refund of the coins once the period expires.
Foreigners could also attain E-Residence in a similar pattern. By purchasing and locking fixed collateral of Sango Coins worth $6000 for a period of five years. After which the coins the owners will acquire ownership of the coins on the expiry date.
Those who acquired CAR citizenship in this manner would enjoy a series of privileges. Which included access to a global network of services such as healthcare, fintech and insurance. The foreigners could access the services from anywhere across the globe using the Sango App.
However, despite the heavy investments by president Faustin Archange Touadéra’s government, the court’s ruling could later foil the plans.
Government respects the courts ruling
Through a spokesman, Albert Yaloke Mokpeme, the government reports not to defy the court’s ruling. Instead, the government resorts to looking for other ways the investors will receive the land and citizenship rewards.
Albert Mokpeme reports that “We respect the court’s decision and we’re now looking at other ways to offer land and citizenship to investors.”
President Touadéra is yet to communicate about the same.
Since July 21, 2022, when the Sango Coin sale kicked off, the website shows over 194 million coins are yet to be sold. Out of the initial $21 million on offer, just over 5% were bought hours after the launch.
Sango Coin receives backlash
This is not the first time the CAR government receives backlash due to the crypto project. After the government made Bitcoin a legal tender in July 2022, international financial institutions such as IMF seemed not to support the decision.
According to the WorldData website, the country suffered from a lack of access to the internet. Only an average of 4% could access the internet in 2019. Depicting a dire need for internet access across the country especially because the internet comes as a vital requirement in the crypto space.
The decision to legalize Bitcoin seemed to undermine the CFA franc currency which is used in most francophone African countries.
However, President Touadéra cleared the claim noting that “Impenetrable bureaucracy keeps us stuck in systems that don’t give us the ability to perform. The solution was to rethink our economic philosophy.”
Despite the backlash from the Constitutional Court and the international financial institutions, the Sango Coin project could open up the country and attract investors from any point of the globe.
