The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame has opined that Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson must suffer the same fate that befell former Bawku legislator Adamu Dramani Sakande.
Adamu Sakande was voted MP for Bawku on the ticket of NPP at the time that he had not conclusively denounced his UK citizenship.
He was found guilty and was sentenced to two years imprisonment over false declaration of office, perjury and deceiving a public officer.
But James Gyakye Quayson who was also holding duel citizenship at the time he was elected MP for Assin North in the 2020 parliamentary elections, has been ordered by the Supreme Court to stop holding himself as a legislator or engage in act as an MP.
A majority decision of 5:2, the apex court in the country ordered James Gyakye Quayson for stepping foot in Parliament as a legislator or engaging in any act as an MP.
The injunction against the MP will hold until the final determination of a suit challenging the constitutionality of Mr Quayson’s election as MP.
Speaking to the press after the court proceedings, Mr Godfred Dame said ” think that there ought to be even application of the law , there ought to be an equal application of the law, the same fate that befell Adamu Sakande who was not qualified at the time that nominations were opened and we all know what happened to him. Subsequently, they declared him ineligible and his seat was taken away so there ought to be even application of the law.”
It would be recalled that James Gyakye Quayson managed to accumulate 17,498 votes as against 14,793 by the NPP candidate Abena Durowaa Mensah in the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Despite winning the election, a petition was filed against the eligibility of Mr Quayson by Mr. Ankoma-Nimfah at the Cape Coast High Court on December 30, 2020.
The second apex court of the land declared Mr Quayson’s election as void for owing allegiance to another country other than Ghana, contrary to Article 94(2) of the 1992 Constitution.
It was the considered view of the court that as of the time Mr Quayson filed to contest the MP position, he had not renounced his Canadian citizenship and, therefore, he was not qualified to become a legislator.
The court ordered the Electoral Commission to organize a new election in the constituency without James Gyakye Quayson contesting for the parliamentary seat.
Mr. Quayson filed for an appeal the Court of Appeal, Cape Coast, but on March 22, the court rejected the appeal for not being in compliance with the rules of court and the case was forwarded to the Supreme Court of which the apex court has also given its verdict, ordering James Gyakye Quayson from stepping foot in Parliament as a legislator..
