The Supreme Court has ordered Parliament to expunge the name of James Gyakye Quayson from its records as a Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency in the Central Region. A seven-member panel presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, in a unanimous decision, ruled that the Electoral Commission acted unconstitutionally in allowing him to contest the 2020 Parliamentary elections without proof of him renouncing his Canadian Citizenship. Mr Michael Ankomah Nimfah, a resident of Assin Bereku and the Plaintiff, had obtained judgement from the Cape Coast High Court nullifying Quayson’s election because of his alleged Canadian Citizenship. He, therefore, went before the Apex Court to restrain Quayson as MP and sought the interpretation of Article 94 (2) (a) of the Constitution, which prevents a person from holding allegiance to another country. Mr Nimfah had asked the court to rule that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana at the time Mr Quayson filed his nomination form in October 2020 to contest the 2020 Parliamentary elections for the Assin North Constituency, he was not qualified to contest as a Member of Parliament. The article provides that a person shall not be qualified to be a Member of Parliament if he owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana. The Court in a unanimous decision ruled that Mr. Quayson was not qualified at the time of filing his nomination forms. It held that the EC allowing him to contest when he had not shown evidence of renunciation of his citizenship of Canada was unconstitutional. It further declared that his election was unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect. His swearing-in was equally declared to be unconstitutional. The case was heard by Nene Amegatcher, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkonoo, Prof Henrietta Mensah Bonsu, Emmanuel Kulendi and Barbara Ackah Ayensu.
Source: Ghana News Agency