The National Democratic Congress (NDC) leadership has declared that it will support the troubled James Gyakye Quayson in his bid to run for re-election as the representative for Assin North.
The NDC, according to General Secretary Fiifi Kwetey, will support Mr. James Quayson in a by-election.
The NDC referred to the Supreme Court’s ruling as “strange” in a statement released on May 18, 2023, and signed by its general secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey.
“In the light of many previous decisions that we are aware of, including decisions in cases involving Honourable J.H. Mensah, Honourable Baba Jamal and Honourable Peter Amewu that state that the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to invalidate a Parliamentary election and that the High Court is where such a matter should be taken, it seems strange to us that the Supreme Court gave this decision,” the party noted.
Despite this, the party said it is “ready for the bye-election that is now the result of this decision.”
It added: “The full weight of the party, including the Minority Caucus in Parliament, will be put behind Honourable Quayson so as to ensure an even more resounding victory for him in the upcoming bye-election.”
The Supreme Court unanimously decided to order Parliament to remove James Gyakye Quayson’s name from the rolls of parliamentarians.
The Court ruled on May 17, 2023, that Mr. James Quayson’s election as the MP for Assin North was unconstitutional because he had dual citizenship at the time he filed to run in the 2020 elections.
After the Cape Coast High Court invalidated Mr. Quayson’s election as the MP for Assin North in July 2021, a resident of Assin Bereku in the Central region, Michael Ankomah Nimfa, dragged Mr. Quayson before the court to prevent him from holding himself out as an MP.
The petitioner had argued before the Supreme Court that James Gyakye Quayson’s continued retention of office despite a High Court ruling that had declared his election invalid had violated the constitution and been unfair to the residents of Assin North.
