James Gyakye Quayson
THE COURT of Appeal yesterday rejected a move by the restrained Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, to indefinitely stop his trial before an Accra High Court.
A three-member panel of the court dismissed an application which sought to stay the trial at the High Court pending the determination of an appeal against a decision of the trial court.
The High Court had dismissed an application by Tsatsu Tsikata, counsel for the MP, who urged the court to stay proceedings and refer Article 94(2a) to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
Mr. Quayson has been charged, among others, for deceiving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by making a false statement that he did not have a dual citizenship, in order to acquire a Ghanaian passport.
The court, on February 15, 2022, prior to taking the MP’s plea, had dismissed an application by Mr. Tsikata seeking a stay of proceedings, and a referral of the constitutional article to the apex court for interpretation, arguing that three of the charges hinge on the interpretation.
Mr. Tsikata argued that three of the five charges – knowingly making a false statement, perjury, and false declaration for office relate to Article 94 Clause 2(a) of the Constitution, hence urged the court to stay proceedings and refer the constitutional provision to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
The application was opposed by the Deputy Attorney General (AG), Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, who argued that the mere mention of a constitutional provision in the facts does not warrant a stay of proceedings and a referral of the matter to Supreme Court for interpretation.
He said the referral will arise only when two or more rival interpretations are placed on a constitutional provision, something that has not happened.
The presiding judge, Justice Mary Nsenkyire, held that the mere mention of a constitutional provision in the facts does not warrant a referral to the Supreme Court for interpretation, and subsequently dismissed the oral application.
Mr. Tsikata, therefore, filed an appeal against the decision of the High Court and also filed an application for stay of proceedings after the trial court earlier dismissed a motion to stay its own proceedings.
Moving the motion, he argued that due process in a criminal charge requires the accused to be aware of the elements of the charge that has been brought against him, and that is why the issues of Article 94 (2)(a) are genuine in this application.
The application was opposed by Richard Gyembiby, a Principal State Attorney who argued that it did not meet the threshold for the Appellate Court to stay the hands of the trial judge.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal presided over by Justice Henry Kwofie, dismissed the application for not disclosing any special circumstances to warrant a stay of the trial in the High Court.
Mr. Quayson has also been charged with perjury, for making a false statement at Assin Fosu, that he does 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 does 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.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak