James Gyakye Quayson
THE SUPREME Court yesterday adjourned a case involving the restrained Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, without setting a specific date for the next hearing.
This was after it granted an oral application by Tsatsu Tsikata, counsel for the embattled MP, for leave to file a written submission in support of their motion to strike out the writ invoking the original jurisdiction of the court.
Michael Ankomah-Nimfa, filed the writ before the court seeking the interpretation of Article 94 Clause 2a of the 1992 Constitution which deals with eligibility of a person to contest as an MP in Ghana.
The writ attached an application for interlocutory injunction pending the determination of the case, and the court in a 5:2 majority decision granted the application and restrained the MP from further carrying himself out as the people’s representative of Assin North.
Mr. Tsikata yesterday told the court that they intend to file written submissions to a preliminary objection to challenge the jurisdiction of the court.
Mr. Tsikata indicated that the matter of jurisdiction is a fundamental and preliminary consideration for the court, stating that “what we’re seeking to do is to assist the court with a number of authorities and binding decisions of this court which are cited in the written submissions.”
The request was not opposed by Frank Davies, counsel for Mr. Ankomah-Nimfa, as well as a representative of the Attorney General (AG).
A seven-member panel of the court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, and assisted by Justices Agnes Dordzie, Nene Amegatcher, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu and Amadu Tanko, granted the application and gave Mr. Tsatsu 14 days within which to incorporate the written submission as a supplement to the defence (statement of case).
Mr. Ankomah-Nimfa, the AG and the Electoral Commission, were also given another 14 days within which to respond after they have been served with the written submissions. The case was adjourned indefinitely.
The Supreme Court on June 14, in a unanimous decision dismissed an application for review filed by the MP which sought to reverse an interlocutory injunction placed on him by the court.
A nine-member review panel presided over by Justice Jones Dotse and assisted by Justices Agnes Dordzie, Nene Amegatcher, Nii Ashie Kotey, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Amadu Tanko, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Yonny Kulendi, in a unanimous decision dismissed the application for not meeting the review threshold of the court.
A Cape Coast High Court, last year, ordered the MP to vacate his seat after it found that at the time of filing his nomination to contest in the parliamentary election, which he won in December 7, 2020, Mr. Quayson held dual citizenship, which is against the laws of Ghana.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak