A Deputy Attorney General, (AG), Alfred Tuah-Yeboah has expressed the State’s satisfaction at the ruling of the High Court in Accra refusing an application from lawyers of James Gyakye Quayson to halt proceedings of his criminal trial.
According to the Deputy AG, “the court relied on a binding decision of the Supreme Court to reach their verdict and the judge was not supposed to stay proceedings until an order of the higher court has been served on her (Judge) to do so”
Alfred Tuah Yeboah who was speaking to journalists after the High Court in Accra dismissed the Assin North Member of Parliament’s latest application for the trial to be halted until after pending motions are dealt with by the apex court.
The legislator is facing five criminal charges which comprised of Deceit of the a Public Officer, forgery of passport or travel certificates, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury and false declaration for office.
He has pleaded not guilty and has been granted bail .
*Brief facts*
James Gyakye Quayson is standing trial for perjury, forgery and other counts of criminal nature pertaining to his Ghanaian passport and eligibility to contest in the 2020 general elections.
The Republic’s case against Hon. Gyakye Quayson is that he lied on his passport application form filled on July 26 that he was not a dual citizen and that he held only Ghanaian citizenship.
This was in spite of the fact that he was yet to renounce his Canadian citizenship issued on 30th October 2016.
Further to this infraction against the law, Hon. Quayson also submitted forms to the electoral commission declaring that he only held allegiance to the Republic of Ghana.
This was despite knowing that the application to renounce his Canadian citizenship had not yet been granted by the time he filed his eligibility papers with the electoral commission on or between 5th and 9th October 2020.
Richard Takyi, a resident of Yamoransa in the Central Region prayed a High Court in Cape Coast to cancel Hon. Gyakye Quayson’s electoral victory because he was not eligible to have taken part in the elections.
The matter travelled all the way to the Supreme Court which upheld the ruling of the Cape Coast court. The apex court of the land subsequently ordered Gyakye Quayson to be removed from Parliament occasioning a by-election.
The National Democratic Congress in spite of the criminal prosecution he faces repeated him as the candidate for the election which he won. He has since been re-sworn in as the Member of Parliament for Assin North while his trial proceeds.
Source: Kasapfmonline.com/Murtala Inusah
