James Gyakye Quayson, embattled Assin North MP
Tsatsu Tsikata’s legal gymnastics, which had been going on for a while now, received a jolt yesterday as an Appeal Court in Cape Coast dismissed an appeal by the embattled Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson, challenging the High Court’s decision against his client, for non-compliance with court procedures.
Lawyers for the embattled MP had filed an appeal challenging the High Court’s ruling that declared that fresh elections should be held in Assin North, and also ordered Mr Quayson not to hold himself out as MP for the area.
The Appeal Court’s presiding judge, Irene Charity Larbi, reading the judgment of the court, stated that the embattled MP failed to comply with the court’s directives to submit his written submission within a stipulated time. The judge further ordered that all applications before the panel in relation to the Assin North MP have to be struck out.
The Court had adjourned the case to March 22, 2022, after Counsel for the MP, Tsatsu Tsikata, had sought clarity on why it had decided to use C.I. 47 to deal with the application for stay of execution that was pending before it. Before that, the court’s registrar issued a certificate of non-compliance to Mr Gyaakye Quayson and his lawyers on January 24, 2022.
It was to this effect that they were issued with ‘Form 6’, which is just a notice of dispatch of records to the Court of Appeal. That meant that all the records at the High Court that had to do with the original petition had been dispatched to the Court of Appeal.
The MP had within 21 days to file his written submission, but he did not comply, and on that basis the court’s registrar had to issue a certificate of non-compliance.
When the matter was called before the court yesterday, Counsel for the MP, Tsatsu Tsikata, indicated to the court that they had filed three applications, one of which sought to disqualify the presiding judge from sitting on the case.
But the panel indicated that such applications were not before them and based on that, they would go ahead to deal with the matters before them.
The court dismissed the appeal before the panel, and ordered that all applications relating to the appeal case be struck out.
The judge quoted Lord Denning as saying, “you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand,” drawing Tsatsu’s attention to the fact of evidence as key in fighting cases in court.
Vacate seat
A Cape Coast High Court last year found that at the time of filing his nomination to contest in the parliamentary election, which he won in December 7, 2020, the embattled MP held dual citizenship, which is against the laws of Ghana.
This was after one Nimfah had filed a petition challenging the qualification of Mr. Quayson to be an MP. He argued that per Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution, the Representation of the People Law, Act 284 and the CI 127, Mr. Quayson was not qualified at the time of filing to contest the 2020 parliamentary elections, and should be disqualified.
The petitioner had claimed that as at the time Mr. Quayson was filing his papers with the Electoral Commission to enable him to go to Parliament, he was holding dual citizenship (both Ghanaian and Canadian), which the 1992 Constitution expressly does not allow for all those aspiring to hold public office in Ghana. The court, at the end of the trial in August last year, found that Mr. Quayson was not qualified to contest the election, as he held dual citizenship, and consequently ordered him to vacate the seat for a new election to be conducted.
Criminal trial
Meanwhile, the embattled MP is facing criminal trial for, among others, deceiving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration by making a false statement that he did not have dual citizenship in order to acquire a Ghanaian passport.
Mr. Quayson has also been charged with perjury for making a false statement at Assin Fosu, that he did not owe allegiance to any country other than Ghana, a statement he did not have a reason to believe to be true at the time of making it.
Again, the MP has been charged for making a false declaration for office, when he knowingly said he did not owe allegiance to any country other than Ghana for the purpose of obtaining a public office as a Member of Parliament, a statement he knew to be material for obtaining that office.
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