A seven-member Supreme Court Justices has ordered parliament to expunge the name of NDC’s James Gyakye Quayson from its records as Member of Parliament for Assin North.
The Apex Court ruled that the Electoral Commission acted unconstitutionally by allowing him to contest the 2020 parliamentary elections, as he had shown no proof of renouncing his Canadian citizenship at the time.
This is in the case filed by a resident Michael Ankomah Nimfah who had insisted that Mr Quayson does not qualify to be a member of parliament.
The court presided over by Justice Jones Dotse upheld this claim declaring the election and swearing-in of the lawmaker as null and void.
NDC unsettled
But the opposition NDC has described the verdict as “strange”.
In a statement, the party’s General Secretary Fifi Kwetey further explained that “there is no doubt that Hon James Gyakye-Quayson did not owe allegiance to any other country whether at the time of nomination, election or swearing-in.”
By-election
“Nonetheless even as there are serious questions about the legitimacy of this decision after consultation with Hon Gyakye-Quayson, the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wishes to state unequivocally that we are ready for the by-election that is now the result of this decision”, Kwetey stated.
Meanwhile, the governing New Patriotic Party is already looking forward to a by-election in the Assin North Constituency, with Parliament set to declare the seat vacant.
A Director of Elections for the NPP Evans Nimarko said the verdict from the Supreme Court vindicates the party’s earlier position that the lawmaker was not eligible to contest the 2020 elections.
SOURCE: DAILY MAIL GH
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