The Speaker of
Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has asked the Supreme Court to provide clarity on its
directive to Parliament to expunge the name of the then Member of Parliament
for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, from its records.
This comes after
some Members of Parliament raised concerns about how to implement the order of
the Supreme Court since the standing orders of the house do not provide a clear
path on such a directive.
Reacting to the
matter, the Speaker of Parliament, said all activities the ousted Assin North
MP engaged in since January 2021 would hold until steps are taken on the way
forward.
“What has just
happened is strong evidence that there is a need for clarification. Don’t
forget that the order is predicated on a number of declaratory rulings by the
court, it was not given in isolation. There were four earlier declaratory
judgements before the order came as the fifth. The other declaratory judgements
said the election of the member was unconstitutional. As a result of that, it
was null and void and of no effect.
“The order did
not say the Speaker should expunge [his name]. It did not say any Member of
Parliament or Clerk should expunge [the name], it says the institution called
Parliament. So that institution must carry out the order. The only way the
institution can carry out the order is for the institution to reason together.
And that is only done in a sitting where the opportunity is given to members to
think through it.
“I don’t want to
assume powers that are not clearly spelt out in any law. So I did indicate and
mentioned to some members of the Supreme Court that there is a need for
clarification,” he added.
Background
The Supreme
Court in May 2023 ordered Parliament to remove James Gyakye Quayson’s name from
its records as the Member of Parliament for Assin North.
Parliament then
declared the seat vacant which paves the way for a by-election on June 27.
The Supreme
Court ruled that Mr. Quayson was not qualified to contest the 2020
parliamentary elections in the Assin North Constituency at the time he filed
his nomination forms on October 9, 2020.
The Court found
that Mr. Quayson had not shown evidence of renouncing his Canadian citizenship,
and that the Electoral Commission had granted him permission to contest the
election without this evidence.
The Court
further ruled that Mr. Quayson’s election as Member of Parliament for Assin
North Constituency was unconstitutional.
The 7-member
Court in a unanimous ruling stated that “the qualification of holding only
Ghanaian citizenship must be present at the time of nomination, and not any
date thereafter.”
The Court also
held that “any person, who has obtained citizenship of another country other
than Ghana, and who files for nomination with the Electoral Commission to
contest for election as a Member of Parliament will not be qualified to contest
for elections unless and until they show a record from the alternate State that
they no longer hold the citizenship of that State as at the date of filing
their nominations with the Electoral Commission.”
“Since Mr.
Quayson had not received his certificate of renunciation as a Canadian citizen
as of October 9, 2020, he was not qualified to be a Member of Parliament at the
time he filed his nomination papers, at the time he stood for election, and at
the time he was declared as elected Member of Parliament”.
“This court has
to, therefore, reiterate its earlier conclusion that the qualification of
holding only Ghanaian citizenship must be present at the time of nomination,
and not any date thereafter – in this case by 9th October 2020”.
“Since the 1st
defendant had not received his certificate of renunciation as a Canadian
citizen as of 9th October 2020, then he was not qualified to be a Member of
Parliament at the time that he filed his nomination papers, at the time he
stood for elections, and at the time he was declared as elected Member of
Parliament, because he owed allegiance to another country as at 9th October
2020, the date when he should have satisfied the qualification criteria”.
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