The Assin North seat has been formally declared vacant by the Ghanaian Parliament.
The Clerk of Parliament announced this in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision regarding James Quayson’s eligibility to serve as the district’s member of parliament.
The Clerk in a memo to the Electoral Commission stated: “In the exercise of the power conferred and the duty imposed on the Clerk to Parliament by section 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 1996 (Act 527), I, CYRIL KWABENA OTENG NSIAH, Clerk to Parliament do hereby formally notify you of the occurrence of a vacancy in the Assin North Constituency necessitated by the Judgement of the Supreme Court dated 17 May 2023 vide Writ No. J1/11/2022 issued in respect of James Gyakye Quayson in the case of Michael Ankomah Nimfah vrs James Gyakye Quayson. The Electoral Commission of Ghana and the Attorney-General request you to take appropriate consequential action as required by law.”
On May 17, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling directing Ghana’s Parliament to remove James Gyakye Quayson‘s name from its roster of lawmakers representing the Assin North constituency.
The Court ruled on May 17, 2023, that Mr. Gyakye 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.
