The Founding President of IMANI Center for Policy and Education, Franklin Cudjoe has said he is hopeful the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Mr. Godfred Dame will this week file court processes to discontinue what he described as the “shameful prosecution” if the second time Member of Parliament elect for Assin North Constituency, James Gyakye Quayson.
Mr. Cudjoe who made the comment on his Facebook page added that Attorney General should rather channel the daily energy for the wasteful prosecution exercise of the MP “to correct the grave electoral ostracization of SALL”.
His call is coming less than a week since Mr. James Gyakye Quayson was re-elected Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency.
Mr. Quayson who held Canadian citizenship got it renounced on 26th November 2020 prior to being elected Member of Parliament on December 4, 2020.
However, he was faced with a lawsuit following his election on the grounds that he holds dual citizenship which is against the laws of Ghana. His argument however was he got his renunciation certificate on 26th November 2020 far before he was elected. The case traveled to the Supreme Court of Ghana and after several months, the Apex court declared that the MP’s name be expunged from the records of Parliament saying he did not get this certificate of renunciation at the time of filing his nominations.
Parliament, based on the Supreme Court ruling declared the Assin North seat vacant leading to a by-election in which he stood on the ticket of the NDC again and won.
Even before the by-election, he is facing another prosecution from the Attorney General on alleged forgery and perjury.
Elsewhere in the SALL (Satrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi) were denied representation in parliament during the 2020 elections. An issue that has been pending in the Supreme Court since.