James Gyakye Quayson
Embattled Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, has made a bold claim that he is not afraid of going to prison if found guilty and convicted of the charges for which he is standing trial before an Accra High Court.
Speaking in a radio interview, Mr. Quayson said, “I don’t fear going to jail at all,” when asked among other things, whether he was not scared of going to jail if found guilty.
He told the host that he believes in the justice system and indicated that, “The fundamental thing about any judicial matter is that person intended to commit that crime. Did he plan it? I have not planned anything of such.”
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.
He has been charged with five counts of deceit of public officer, forgery of passport of travel certificate, knowingly making a false statutory statement, perjury and false declaration of office.
Mr. Quayson, who won the Assin North by-election after the Supreme Court booted him out of Parliament, could be sent to prison for up to ten years if found guilty of perjury, a second degree felony, as the prosecution pushes to establish his guilt.
But the MP said he is convinced the court will rule in his favour, hence he is not afraid.
“My strongest conviction is that this is just a matter of time, when you believe you have done the right thing, you shouldn’t be afraid. I trust the court will deliver a very much positive verdict, I trust my lawyers, I trust the conscience of the people,” he said.
He also indicated that he had been using his dual citizenship since 2009, and has used same to travel between Ghana and Canada several times without a visa.
“You get your dual citizenship through the Ministry of Interior, where you bring your Canadian passport and that of Ghanaian passport, and then they give you a green certificate, which is your dual citizenship. From 2009 till the time I became just solely a Ghanaian, I was travelling from Ghana to Canada, without a visa.”
Mr. Quayson added that, “The Ghanaian authorities recognise me as a dual citizen person, so how can the same person be applying for or renewing his passport, and you say I don’t have any other nationality? It doesn’t make sense. Unless they also don’t check their own records. So I don’t fear going to jail at all.”
The MP, however, alleged among other things, that he believes government had a hand in the court’s decision to hear his case on daily basis.
The trial court on June 16, 2023, ruled that it would from June 20, 2023, hear the case on daily basis following a request by the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame.
But lawyers for Mr. Quayson filed a review motion asking the court to reconsider the decision, particularly urging the court to adjourn the case to days that do not include June 22 and 23 to allow him adequate time to prepare for the Assin North by-election, which he won.
The court, in its ruling, turned down the motion, indicating that adjournments are at the discretion of the court and not the convenience of parties, and that its decision was clearly within the law and no case had been made to show that the order was contrary to law.
But the MP said that he interpreted the daily trial as an attempt to prevent him from campaigning and winning the seat during the by-election, although the court adjourned the case to allow him time to campaign.
“That was the best they could do. I never believed that the government could be involved in the judiciary, but now I am convinced,” Mr. Quayson alleged.
He added that, “An AG can just walk into court and request that the file be moved. Before, it was mostly every two weeks, but suddenly they say I have to come every day. In fact, I was on the campaign trail. I went from my constituency to court from 12pm to 2pm, and then I was back in my constituency by 4pm to campaign until about 11pm.”
BY Gibril Abdul Razak