The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has opined that the Supreme Court erred in its ruling against James Gyakye Quayson.
The Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional the election of James Gyakye Quayson as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North in the Central Region.
In a unanimous decision on May 17, 2023, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to expunge the name of Mr Quayson as MP.
Read Also: Expunge James Gyakye Quayson’s name from your records – Supreme Court to Parliament
The court held that the whole process leading to the election of Mr Quayson – filing of nomination forms, election itself and swearing-in, were all in violation of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution, which bars a person with dual citizenship from contesting as an MP.
It was the considered view of the court that as of the time Mr Quayson filed his nomination forms in October 2020 to contest for the Assin North seat, he had not renounced his Canadian citizenship and, therefore, was not qualified per Article 94(2)(a) of the Constitution.
In view of that the court further held that the Electoral Commission (EC) also violated Article 94(2)(a) of the Constitution when it permitted Mr Quayson to contest the election.
“Upon the true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) the decision of second defendant [Electoral Commission] to permit the first defendant [James Gyakye Quayson] to contest the parliamentary election of Assin North when the first defendant had not shown evidence of the cancellation of his citizenship of Canada is an act which is inconsistent with and violates Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution,” the court held.
Since the ruling, a section of the public have reacted to the above and while some of them, especially those from the ruling New Patriotic Party were happy about the Supreme Court’s ruling, others have condemned it.
Speaking to the issue on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with Kaakyire Ofori Ayim, Kwesi Pratt Jnr questioned the basis of the fraudulent allegations made against James Gyakye Quayson as stated by the Supreme court.
According to him, before the 2020 elections, the matter of dual citizenship of James Gyakye Quayson came up and he went to renounce his citizenship as a Canadian.
However, he observed that James Gyakye Quayson could not provide a certificate to show his renunciation, making him a fraud.
Kwesi Pratt Jnr noted that when the matter was presented to the EC, it looked at all documents and okayed James Gyakye Quayson for the election, questioning why the man was being tagged as a fraud.
“The matter has gone to the EC, EC examined his documents and EC said he is qualified to stand, where is the fraud? EC has looked at the document and determined that it is proper for him to stand and he did, you say he has defrauded EC, how?” he quizzed.
To those who have said that the ruling of the court was right, he said that was their right, saying that everyone has the right to agree or disagree with the court.
“I also have the right and in this particular case, I think that the Supreme Court erred,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Former MP has declared his intention to contest the Assin North by-election set for June 27.
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