James Gyakye Quayson
OPPOSITION LAWMAKERS staged a noisy protest in Parliament yesterday after two members of the Majority caucus pointed to the embattled NDC MP for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, as a stranger in the House.
The NDC lawmakers voiced their anger, banging on the tables in the chamber when the NPP MP for Kwadaso, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko, sought to find out from the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who was in the chair, whether the Assin North MP could still come into the chamber after the Court of Appeal’s ruling in his case.
“Mr. Speaker, some days back the High Court ruled and the Court of Appeal also affirmed that our Hon friend [James Gyakye] Quayson is not supposed to be in the House.
“I want to seek your guidance on that whether… (uproar). Rt. Hon Speaker, we go by the tenet of the constitution and I want to find out from you whether his presence here is allowed,” he submitted.
Immediately after his submission, NPP MP for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea, explained his colleague from Kwadaso had informed them that there was a stranger in the House, adding, “Why? The foundation is clear. A court of competent jurisdiction declared that he [Gyakye Quayson] is not qualified to be a Member of Parliament.
“This has been affirmed by another court, the Court of Appeal, and therefore in the face of this authoritative pronouncement regarding his capacity to remain here, if he will insist on coming here…, I think he has raised a very legitimate concern and let it sound strong that he is disqualified to come to this chamber,” Mr. Atta Akyea intimated.
He continued, “Until he is pardoned to sit here by a High Court, if not, then he is in contempt of the courts, and this Hon House should not give its blessings to a man who has conducted himself improperly.”
“We should not encourage contumacious behaviours. So I think what he has raised is very important for our own dignity. If two courts have said you are not qualified as a Member of Parliament and you defy the courts, no injunction processes and nothing and you come here, it leaves much to be desired. I think this is what he has raised and we should look at it as a House,” he asserted.
Atta Akyea immediately drew flak for agreeing to Dr. Nyarko that the Assin North MP was a stranger in the House, with the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, accusing them of premeditated action.
He told Parliament the Kwadaso MP breached the trust of the Minority after allowing him to circumvent procedure to make his case on the House floor.
Ruling
Ruling on the matter, the First Deputy Speaker said, “What matter there is, is a fact to be determined. Whether or not the appeal has been determined, that is a question of fact and not a question of law, and I do not intend that we do that at this moment.”
He added, “I will discuss that with leadership and whatever steps we have to take, we will take after that.”
Mr. Quayson’s appeal filed at the Court of Appeal in Cape Coast to overturn the annulment of his election was struck out by the court after he failed to file his written submission within the stipulated period allowed under the Court of Appeal Rules, 1997 (C.I. 19).
BY Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House