Governor-General assents bill to change Oath/Affirmation of Allegiance

by Linda Straker

• Oath of Allegiance and Affirmation of Allegiance will be to Grenada
• Acts came into effect as of 1 August 2025
• State officials will no longer take Oath of Allegiance or Affirmation of Allegiance to King Charles, his Heirs and Successors

Governor-General Dame Cecile La Grenade has assented to the 2 pieces of legislation recently approved in both the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament that will stop State officials from taking the Oath of Allegiance or the Affirmation of Allegiance to the King, his Heirs and Successors.

On 24 and 25 July, the Lower and Upper Houses respectively approved The Constitution (Oath of Allegiance (Amendment) (No. 1) Act, 2025 and The Constitution (Oath of Allegiance) (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2025.

These Acts came into effect as of 1 August 2025, and from that date, anyone taking the Oath of Allegiance or Affirmation of Allegiance will be taking the Oath of Allegiance and the Affirmation of Allegiance to Grenada.

The bills instruct that all State officials are expected to retake their oath within 12 hours immediately following the commencement of 1 August or within 7 days immediately following the commencement of the appointed day.

The notice that the Governor-General had assented to the bills was published in the 31 July Government Gazette. “Copies of these Acts may be seen at the Treasury, the Public Library, Post Offices, District Revenue Offices and Police Stations,” said the notice.

Days after the bills were approved in both Houses of Parliament, a non-governmental organisation called Independent Caucus for Constitution Reform wrote to the Governor-General requesting that she not assent to the bills. “We respectfully urge you to withhold assent from these Bills in its present context, whose provisions contradict the foundational constructs of our Constitution. Section 45 entrusts you with this responsibility not merely as a ceremonial functionary, but as a constitutional safeguard in the service of democratic integrity,” said the letter, which is dated 27 July.

“We reiterate that our objection is not symbolic — it reflects a profound apprehension about the erosion of legal checks and balances and the potential for democratic capture. We implore your Excellency to exercise your constitutional directives in honouring, upholding and preserving the Constitution of Grenada…. and resisting initiatives that compromise the legitimacy and independence of the Office of the Governor-General,” said the letter.

The change to the Oath of Allegiance and Affirmation of Allegiance was a goal of another non-governmental organisation called Citizens for Constitution Reform (CCR). Convened by Dr Francis Alexis, a former Member of Parliament, Attorney General, Government minister and an Attorney at Law by profession. The other directors of the CCR are Ruggles Ferguson, Anande Trotman, Jerry Edwin, Ewart Layne and Dr Wendy Grenade.

At its media launch in May 2024, the grouping said that the first goal of the group was changing Grenada’s “Oath of Allegiance” from swearing to the King of England to the State of Grenada. “There should no longer be allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III, his heirs and successors, but instead to the land of our birth, our citizenship in which we are domiciled — Grenada,” said Dr Alexis, who chaired constitution reform committees for the 2016 and 2018 referendum voting.

The group is yet to make a public statement on the success of changing the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance, nor what its second goal will be when it comes to reforming the 1973 Constitution Order.