Supreme Court asks Parliament to expunge James Gyakye Quayson from its records

Ghana’s Supreme Court has ordered that the name of James Gyakye Quayson be expunged from Parliament’s records as a member of the house.

The case was heard by Justices Jones Dotse, Nene Amegatcher, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkonoo, Prof Henrietta Mensah Bonsu, Emmanuel Kulendi and Barbara Ackah Ayensu with Justice Jones Dotse as the presiding judge.

In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the Electoral Commission acted unconstitutionally by allowing Mr Quayson to contest the election. It said his swearing-in too was illegal.

Mr James Gyakye Quayson was dragged to court by one Michael Ankomah Nimfah, a resident of the Assin North Constituency where Quayson won the 2020 Parliamentary election to represent the people in Parliament.

According to Mr Nimfah, James Quayson had filed his nomination to contest as Member of Parliament in October 2020, and at that time he still had Canadian citizenship. He said per Article 94(2)(a) which states that “A person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana,” My Quayson was not qualified to contest the elections.

The Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision on April 13, 2022, ruled that James Gyakye Quayson was not qualified to hold himself as MP for Assin North. That decision followed an earlier ruling by the Cape Coast High Court that James Gyaky Quayson was not qualified to stand for elections. The High Court decision was presided over by Justice Coram Kwasi Boakye.

However, in a unanimous decision today, May 17, 2023, the Supreme Court has now asked Parliament to clean from its records the name of the lawmaker as a member of Parliament.