James Gyakye Quayson
The embattled former Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, is facing up to 10 years’ imprisonment in hard labour if found guilty, convicted and sentenced for the charge of perjury and other criminal charges levelled against him by the Office of the Attorney General.
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 was booted out of Parliament by the Supreme Court, 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.
Parliament has already notified the Electoral Commission (EC) of the occurrence of a vacancy in the Assin North Constituency necessitated by the judgment of the Supreme Court which directed Parliament to expunge Mr. Quayson’s name out of its records.
An Accra High Court last week adjourned the trial to June 16, 2023, after Mr. Quayson’s lawyer told the court that they were yet to get some prosecution documents which they demanded from the Office of the Attorney General regarding the trial.
Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, told the court that it was purely due to an administrative error that the accused person had not received those documents.
Mr. Quayson was booted out of Parliament last week by a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court which held that his election was unconstitutional, and subsequently directed Parliament to expunge his name from its records.
It was the opinion of the court that the Electoral Commission (EC) allowing him to contest the election without showing evidence of renunciation of his Canadian citizenship was unconstitutional.
The decision was contained in a short ruling of the court which said its full reasons would be made available on June 7, 2023.
The Supreme Court gave the order in its judgment on a writ filed by Michael Ankomah-Nimfah 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.
Criminal Trial
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 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 former 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.
He was granted a bail of GH¢100,000 with one surety which must be justified, by the court presided over by Justice Mary Yanzuh.
He was also ordered to deposit his passport with the registrar of the court until the final determination of the case and could apply for it when necessary.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak