The Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, has appealed to the Attorney-General (A-G), Godfred Yeboah Dame, to drop the criminal charges against James Gyakye Quayson, the Member of Parliament-elect for Assin North.
James Gyakye Quayson is facing trial for perjury at the High Court in Accra.
He is facing charges of forgery and perjury in relation to certain alleged offences in the run up to the 2020 Assin North parliamentary election.
He has pleaded not guilty to five counts of forgery of passport or travel certificate, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury and false declaration for office.
It is the case of the prosecution that Mr Quayson allegedly made a false statement to the Passport Office that he did not hold a passport to another country when he applied for a Ghanaian Passport.
In addition, the prosecution has accused Mr Quayson of making a false declaration to the Electoral Commission (EC) to the effect that he (Quayson) did not owe any allegiance to a foreign country when he filed to contest as candidate for the Assin North seat in 2020.
By-election
Quayson used to be a dual citizen with allegiance to Canada and Ghana.
Prior to the 2020 parliamentary election, he had initiated moves with an application to renounce his Canadian citizenship but had not received his renunciation certificate at the time of filing with the EC to contest.
Per the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the 1992 Constitution, since Quayson had not received his renunciation certificate, he was still a Canadian citizen at the time he filed with the Electoral Commission to contest the 2020 election, and so he was therefore not qualified.
The 2020 parliamentary election results at Assin North was therefore annulled and the seat was declared vacant.
With his Canadian citizenship renunciation certificate currently in his grip as he received it later in 2020, he was now qualified to contest and so the NDC gave him the nod to re-contest. He won the by-election against the New Patriotic Party’s Charles Opoku and now set to be sworn in as MP for Assin North.
Perjury case
However, the charges of forgery and perjury in relation to certain alleged offences in the run up to the 2020 Assin North parliamentary election are still pending.
Graphic Online’s Biiya Mukusah Ali reports that speaking at the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo and Western North regional version of the Professor John Evans Atta Mills Commemorative Lecture in Sunyani on Saturday [July 1, 2023], the Dormaahene made the appeal for the A-G to drop the criminal charges against Quayson. [Watch the video attached below]
“As a matter of urgency, I [Dormaahene] am appealing to the President of the Republic [Akufo-Addo], if he has any role to play, that trial should be aborted, and the Attorney-General should as a matter of urgency file a nolle Prosequi to end that particular decision” and abort the criminal case against Mr Quayson”, the Dormaahene said.
Insisting that it was needless for the A-G to continue the case, after the chiefs and people of the Assin North constituency re-elected Quayson, Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu, who is also the President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs said the law has a provision or permitted the A-G to discontinue any case that citizens were not interested.
He said continuing with the criminal trial was an insult to Ghanaians and the people of Assin North.
He added that, he does not see any benefits coming to the country, should the A-G decide to continue to prosecute James Gyakye Quayson and that prosecuting him will prevent him from doing his job as a legislator.
“Mr President [Akufo-Addo], you know I love you, this matter cannot go on”, he added.
The Dormaahene said the 17,245 votes representing 57.56 percent of the valid votes cast for Mr Quayson was a signal that the constituents had trust and believed in him to be their MP.
Disagreement with Supreme Court ruling
He said he disagrees with the Supreme Court’s ruling that annulled the 2020 Assin North parliamentary election and made the seat vacant.
The Dormaahene, who is also a High Court Judge – James Mensah – said if he was on the Supreme Court bench, he would have voted against annulling the election and that he would have voted on the “left” side and would not have gone to the “right”.
He said the reason, he would’ve gone to the left side is the same issues under consideration in the criminal trial and so he would not want to explain or speak on it.
The public lecture was organised on the theme: “The man John Evans Atta Mills – 10 years on”.
Various speakers at the lecture described the late Prof Mills as a unifier, peace maker, truthful, God-fearing man, humble, tolerant, listening skills, patience and selfless among others.
As part of the lecture, a 24-book page titled “Atta Mills Speaks to the World” was launched.
The book captured Prof Mills’ statements at the 64th, 65th and 66th General Assembly of the United Nations, during his term as President.
