James Gyakye Quayson, the troubled Member of Parliament for Assin North, could be imprisoned for 10-years if found guilty of all charges against him.
The ousted National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP lost his seat following a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court.
The NDC MP’s name has been expunge from the records of Parliament, according to the supreme court.
This comes after the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding a request to exercise its original jurisdiction over the constitutionality of James Gyakye Quayson’s election.
The decision of the Supreme Court’s seven-member panel prohibits Mr. Quayson from identifying himself as a member of parliament.
Mr. Quayson was on trial for counts of perjury, making a false statutory declaration with knowledge, deceiving a public official, forging a passport, and making a false declaration.
Gyakye Quayson was barred from holding office as an MP in Ghana due to his citizenship as a citizen of Canada, the High Court in Cape Coast ruled, and the plaintiff, Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, filed the application as a result.
The plaintiff sought relief by invoking the original jurisdiction, arguing that Gyakye Quayson’s eligibility to run for office in 2020 and his subsequent election were both illegal under the true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution.
A group calling itself “Concerned Citizens of Assin North” petitioned the Central Region of the Electoral Commission in November 2020 to have Mr. Quayson’s candidacy withdrawn on the grounds that he owed allegiance to Canada.
In the Assin North constituency for the 2020 elections, James Gyakye Quayson, who ran on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress, received 17,498 votes representing (55.21%), while Abena Durowaa Mensah, the New Patriotic Party’s candidate, received 14,193 votes representing (44.79%).
Meanwhile, the government headed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will use the government apparatus to ensure they win the Assin North seat in upcoming by-elections, according to George Krobea Asante, the NPP’s deputy director of communications.
Following the Supreme Court’s annulment of the 2020 parliamentary election results in that constituency, he predicted that the NPP would win the by-election in Assin North.
