President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo did nothing wrong in his remarks about James Gyakye Quayson, according to Stephen Ntim, National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He claimed that the President was correct when he said that the former National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmaker would probably go to jail.
According to Mr. Ntim, the President’s statements were based on his legal knowledge.
According to Mr. Akufo-Addo’s legal background, he is free to forecast the likely result of a criminal trial, Mr. Ntim added.
“I am not a lawyer but in law if you kill a human being as another example, why will you not go to jail? So maybe the president was making the comment based on what he knows about the law, not that he is going to be the judge. From his experience, he is at liberty to predict what is likely to happen,” he told journalists on Monday, June 26.
Mr. Ntim’s remarks are timely. John Dramani Mahama, a former president, has criticized Mr. Akufo-Addo for making remarks that he believes are detrimental to the ongoing criminal case involving Gyakye Quayson.
President Akufo-Addo implied that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate in the upcoming by-elections on Tuesday is a candidate for prison on Sunday, June 25, when he spoke at the Church of Pentecost in Assin Akonfudi in the Assin North Constituency of the Central Region.
“They say even if Gyakye Quayson is in jail they will vote for him, are we going to vote for someone who is going to prison?
“What benefits will the people derive from voting for such a person? We want someone when he is voted for can come to me and plan how to develop the constituency.”
The NDC’s flagbearer John Mahama, however, strongly objected to this and stated that the President’s remarks go against the principles of the 1992 Constitution and, in fact, Ghana’s democracy.
