The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, will administer the oath of office to James Gyakye Quayson, the newly elected representative for Assin North, today, Tuesday, July 4, 2023.
This follows his resounding victory in the by-election last week.
The Supreme Court’s decision ordering Parliament to remove his name from its list of MPs forced the need for the by-election.
Despite being subject to a criminal investigation into the dual citizenship claims that cost him his seat, Mr. Gyakye Quayson won by a larger margin with 17,245 votes, or 57.56% of the total number of valid votes.
Charles Opoku of the NPP secured second place with 12,630 votes, or 42.15% of the total valid votes, while Bernice Enam Sefanu of the Liberal Party of Ghana received just 87 votes, or 0.29%.
Officials from the Electoral Commission noted that the voter turnout was extremely high at 74.23%.
Gyakye Quayson is currently being prosecuted by the Attorney-General’s Office on forgery and perjury charges.
Due to the fact that he had not yet renounced his Canadian citizenship at the time of filing his nominations for the 2020 election, he is accused of misleading a public official and making false declarations.
However, Mr. Quayson has requested a stay of proceedings while an appeal is pending in a motion on notice he filed with the High Court.
He is asking for a court order to put the trial on hold until the outcome of his appeal, which was filed on June 27, 2023.
In a related news, the governing NPP, according to Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the NDC, allegedly tried to buy off James Gyakye Quayson, the candidate for the by-election in Assin North.
In addition to saying that Quayson was unwavering in his commitment to and love for his constituents, he revealed that the government had threatened to put him in jail after they had failed to get him to step down.
Sammy Gyamfi wrote about Gyakye Quayson’s commitment to fighting for justice despite all obstacles and even at the risk of losing his civil liberties in a Facebook post.
