Lawyer Godwin Edudzi Tamekloe has revealed the next line of action for Mr. James Gyakye Quayson, Former MP for Assin North.
Reacting to the ruling of the Supreme Court in relation to the case against Mr. Gyakye Quayson, he shared a post on his Facebook page which suggest that in the case of a by-election, Mr. Quayson is well qualified to stand to be voted for.
This comes after a ruling by a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court which bars Mr. Quayson from holding himself as a Member of Parliament.The Supreme Court has by unanimous decision further ordered Parliament to expunge the name of James Gyakye Quayson as a Member of Parliament.
According to Mr. Tameklo, ” since in a by election, the EC must open nominations and since he[Gyakye Quayson] has already obtained his certificate of renunciation, he is qualified within Article 94 of the Constitution.”
“He is therefore qualified to stand in the by election. Standing criminal trial is not a ground for disqualification,” he added.
Below is his full post;
A lot of comrades have reached out to me about the way forward in relation to the Assin North Constituency and the former MP.
Let me try and summarize the issues.
The Supreme Court has earlier decided in the Exparte Dr Zanetor case that the time to question eligibility or otherwise of a person desirous of becoming an MP should be at the time that the EC opens nominations for the said parliamentary contest.
Hence, a person should be deemed to be qualified at the time of the opening of nominations.
With that said, the Hon Gyekye Quayson obtained his certificate of renunciation in November, 2020.
The EC opened nominations in October 2020. With these two timelines, the SC took a restrictive view that once the certificate of renunciation came after he filed his nominations, notwithstanding the fact that he obtained the renunciation certificate before his election and swearing in, he is deemed not eligible.
Since in a by election, the EC must open nominations and since he has already obtained his certificate of renunciation, he is qualified within Article 94 of the Constitution.
He is therefore qualified to stand in the by election. Standing criminal trial is not a ground for disqualification.
Background
In November 2020, a group calling itself ‘Concerned Citizens of Assin North petitioned the Electoral Commission in the Central Region to withdraw the candidature of Mr. Quayson, arguing that he owes allegiance to Canada.
Michael Ankomah-Nimfa, a resident of Assin Bereku in the Central Region, subsequently filed a petition at the Cape Coast High Court after the election seeking to annul the declaration of Mr. Quayson as the MP Assin North.
The Cape Coast High Court in the Central Region upheld Mr. Akomah-Ninfa’s request and declared the 2020 parliamentary election held in the Assin North Constituency as null and void because Mr Quayson breached the provisions of the constitution with regard to dual citizenship.
Mr. Quayson subsequently appealed the judgment, at the Court of Appeal in Cape Coast.
The matter later was sent to the Supreme Court
