The Supreme Court of Ghana has ordered Assin North legislator, James Gyakye Quayson to stop holding himself as a member of Parliament.
It would be recalled that Mr Gyakye Quayson was elected the MP for Assin North on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the 2020 general elections.
He managed to accumulate 17,498 votes as against 14,793 by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate Abena Durowaa Mensah.
After being declared winner, a petition was filed against the eligibility of Mr Quayson by Mr. Ankoma-Nimfah on December 30,2020 at the Cape Coast High Court of which the court 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 at the Court of Appeal in Cape Coast, but on March 22, the court rejected the appeal for not being in compliance with the rules of court.
The case was then forwarded to the Supreme Court of which the apex court has given its verdict today, April 13, 2022.
By a majority decision of 5:2, the apex court in the country has ordered James Gyakye Quayson not to step foot in Parliament as a legislator or engage 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.
