James Gyakye Quayson, embattled Assin North MP
The embattled Assin North Member of Parliament, James Gyakye Quayson, hauled before an Accra High Court to face five criminal charges, including “deceit of a public officer” and “forgery of passport or travel certificate”, contrary to Section 15 (1) (b) of the Passports and Travel Certificates Act 1967 (NLCD 155), has filed for stay of proceedings.
Lead counsel for Quayson, Tsatsu Tsikata, told the court that they had filed an application for stay of proceedings at the High Court, and was expected to be moved on March 28, 2022.
Mr Tsikata suggested to Justice Elfreda Dankyi’s court that in the light of his pending application, the next court sitting may be adjourned to Monday 28 March so that all matters can be dealt with at the proposed sitting.
The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, told the court that the state had filed all of its witness statements, and had made other disclosures as ordered by the court. She added that the state was therefore ready for the case management conference (CMC).
The court, presided over by Justice Elfreda Dankyi, after hearing the parties, ruled that since she did not have access to the court premises on Mondays, she would adjourn sitting to Tuesday 29 March 2022, to hear the pending application and also to conduct the CMC.
Charge sheet
The first charge preferred against Quayson by the state is “deceit of a public officer”, contrary to Section 251(b) of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29). On this charge, the Attorney General declares that Quayson, “on or about 29 July 2019 at the Passport Office, Accra, with intent to facilitate the obtaining of a Ghanaian passport, deceived the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by making a false statement that he did not have dual citizenship, a statement which he did not have a good reason to believe to be true at the time of making it.”
The second charge is “forgery of passport or travel certificate”, contrary to Section 15 (1) (b) of the Passports and Travel Certificates Act 1967 (NLCD 155).
The state explains that Quayson on or about 26 July 2019 at the Passport Office, in Accra, made a false statement that he did not hold dual citizenship, for the purposes of procuring a Ghanaian passport, a statement he knew to be untrue at the time of making it, the charge sheet says. Knowingly making a false statutory declaration, contrary to Section 5 of the Statutory Declarations Act 1971 (Act 389), is the third charge against the MP.
The Attorney General added that James Gyakye Quayson, on or about 6 October 2020 at Assin Fosu, made a statutory declaration that he did not owe allegiance to any country other than Ghana, a statement which he knew to be false in a material particular at the time of making it.
The fourth charge is “perjury”, contrary to Section 210(1) of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29), and the last is “false declaration for office, also contrary to Section 248 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29)”.
On the fourth charge, the Attorney General states that Quayson, on or about 6 October 2020 at Assin Fosu, made a false statement on oath that he did not owe allegiance to any country other than Ghana.
Regarding the fifth charge, the state similarly claims that on or about 8 October 2020, at the Electoral Commission office in Accra, Mr Quayson knowingly used a declaration that he did not owe allegiance to any country other than Ghana for the purposes of obtaining a public office as a member of Parliament, a statement he knew to be material to obtaining that office.
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