Change of name declaration and Gazette notice: templates for Ghana

A genuine change of name in Ghana is three steps: a statutory declaration sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths, a notice in the Ghana Gazette, and then every institution that holds the old name. These are the first two.

If your name never changed and your documents just disagree about it, you want the shorter one and the same person declaration instead.

The template

                 REPUBLIC OF GHANA

               STATUTORY DECLARATION

I, ___________________________________________
[full name, exactly as on your Ghana Card]

of ___________________________________________
   ___________________________________________
[house number, street and town]

Digital address:   ___________________________
Ghana Card No:     GHA-___________________-___
Occupation:        ___________________________

a citizen of Ghana, do solemnly and sincerely
declare as follows:

1.  That I am the declarant herein.

2.  That I was formerly known and called
    ___________________________________________
    [former name, as on your birth certificate]

3.  That I have renounced and abandoned the use
    of my former name, and have assumed and
    adopted the name
    ___________________________________________
    [new name]
    with effect from ____ / ____ / ________.

4.  That I shall at all times hereafter, in all
    records, deeds and writings, and in all
    dealings and transactions, use and sign the
    name set out in paragraph 3 above.

5.  That all documents bearing my former name
    remain valid and refer to me.

6.  That I make this declaration for the purpose
    of publishing the change of name in the
    Ghana Gazette, and for all other lawful
    purposes.

AND I make this solemn declaration conscientiously
believing the same to be true, and by virtue of
the Statutory Declarations Act, 1971 (Act 389).

DECLARED at ___________________________
this ______ day of ____________________ 20____


                     _____________________________
                     DECLARANT


BEFORE ME


_____________________________
COMMISSIONER FOR OATHS

The notice for the Gazette

CHANGE OF NAME

I, ___________________________________________
[new name]

formerly known and called
_____________________________________________
[former name]

of ___________________________________________
[town]

wish to be known and called
_____________________________________________
[new name]

with effect from ____ / ____ / ________.

All documents bearing my former name remain
valid.

The general public is to take note.

Take it with a certified copy of your sworn declaration. The Ghana Gazette sets every notice in its own house style, so expect the wording to come back slightly changed; what matters is that both names and the date are right.

Filling it in

Paragraph 2 is the name on your birth certificate, or on the oldest document you hold. If your old name was itself spelled more than one way, list the variations here too (“also written as …”) so the change covers all of them.

The date in paragraph 3 is when the change takes effect - usually the day you swear it. Use the same date in the Gazette notice.

Paragraph 5 matters. Without it, someone can argue that your certificates and title deeds in the old name belong to somebody else.

Layout. This is the form most Commissioners for Oaths in Accra will recognise: your details at the top, numbered statements of fact, and the closing line that you make it believing it to be true. Some registries and law offices prefer their own layout and will retype it, which is fine - the facts are what you are bringing.

Lying in one is an offence. That is what gives a declaration its weight: you are not proving the facts, you are accepting the consequences if they are false. Say only what you know, and where something comes from somebody else, say so.

After marriage

A marriage certificate is already evidence of the new name, so a spouse taking their partner’s name often needs only a declaration and the certificate, not a Gazette notice. Institutions differ - ask the bank and the passport office before paying for a notice you may not need.

Then the long tail

With the declaration and the Gazette notice in hand, update the Ghana Card first, because everything else is checked against it, then the passport, banks and mobile money, SSNIT, GRA, your employer, the DVLA, NHIS and any land documents. The full checklist is in the guide.

Changing your name: the whole process How to swear the declaration Getting married in Ghana