James Gyakye Quayson
THE embattled Member of Parliament for Assin North in the Central Region, James Gyakye Quayson who has been ordered by the Supreme Court to have his name deleted from the records of Parliament as an MP says he is very much disappointed with the court’s decision.
According to him ‘’I am, of course, disappointed by the Court’s decision. I am especially surprised that the Court now says that foreign bureaucrats now determine whether natural-born Ghanaians have the right to contest parliamentary elections in Ghana or not’’.
‘’Thus, a country that does not allow renunciation of its citizenship can bar a natural-born Ghanaian, who has severed all relations with a country of acquired citizenship, from ever standing for MP’’.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, ruled that the Electoral Commission acted unconstitutionally in allowing him to contest the 2020 Parliamentary Elections without proof that he had denounced his Canadian citizenship at the time he filed his nominations in October 2020 to contest the parliamentary elections in the Assin-North constituency.
Explaining his ordeal against the court decision, he said ‘’In fact, the EC inspected my renunciation certificate in November 2020, before allowing me to contest the elections. Thus, I was duly qualified to run, according to the EC’s regulations, which the law presumes to be regular. Yet, the Court holds that I should have offered this proof to the EC at the time of filing for my nomination and then applies the holding retrospectively to disqualify me’’.
He continued ‘’It is a matter of public record that I filed for the renunciation of my Canadian citizenship in December 2019. It is also a matter of record that I left Canada in February 2020. It is also a matter of record that as soon as I applied for renunciation of my Canadian citizenship and left Canada, I lost all the rights of Canadian citizenship. It is also a matter of record that I picked up my renunciation certificate from the Canadian Embassy in Accra in November 2020’’.
‘’It is also a matter of public record that Canadian law does not say I owe allegiance to Canada, even after filing for renunciation’’.
‘’In fact, Canadian law is unequivocal that disavowal of allegiance is subjective and can be done at any time, including immediately after swearing the oath of citizenship. Thus, under Canadian law, I owed no allegiance to Canada at all material times’’.
‘’I am, of course, disappointed by the Court’s decision. I am especially surprised that the Court now says that foreign bureaucrats now determine whether natural-born Ghanaians have the right to contest parliamentary elections in Ghana or not. Thus, a country that does not allow renunciation of its citizenship can bar a natural-born Ghanaian, who has severed all relations with a country of acquired citizenship, from ever standing for MP’’.
He added that ‘’Nevertheless, I have turned the page on litigating this matter in the courts of justice. I leave the matter to the court of conscience, which Ghandi reminds us, supersedes all other courts.
“Helping to develop my constituency has always been, and remains, my priority. I assure my constituents that nothing has changed, and I will work even harder than before to win their support and to attain these goals’’.
He however thank the NDC for supporting him during these turbulent times.
In a unanimous decision Wednesday seven-member panel of the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to expunge the name of Mr. Quayson as MP.
It was the considered view of the court that the election of Mr. Quayson breached Article 94(2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution because, at the time he filed to contest the elections, he was not qualified to be elected as a legislator since he had not renounced his dual citizenship
The court, therefore, declared Mr Quayson filing to contest, the EC’s decision to allow him to contest as well as his swearing-in as MP in Parliament as all unconstitutional, null, and void.
The seven-member panel of the court was presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, with Justices Nene Amegatcher, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Prof Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, and Barbara Ackah-Ayensu.
The court said the full reasons for its decision will be filed at the court’s registry by June 7, this year.
-BY Daniel Bampoe