The Court of
Appeal has struck out Gyakye Quayson’s application for stay of proceedings of
his trial at the High Court.
Lawyers for the
embattled Member of Parliament for the Assin North constituency last week moved
an application for the High Court to stay proceedings to allow for the Court of
Appeal to hear his appeal to review a decision by the trial judge to hear his
case on a daily basis, but the plea was rejected.
Mr. Quayson thus
run to the Court of Appeal to have the High Court’s ruling overturned, but he
failed to make any progress.
The MP is going
through trial at the High Court in Accra on charges of forgery and perjury.
Gyakye Quayson’s woes
The woes of Mr.
Gyakye Quayson began with his declaration of intent to contest the Assin North
Parliamentary elections in 2020 on the ticket of the opposition National
Democratic Congress when a group called ‘Concerned Citizens of Assin North’
petitioned the Electoral Commission in the Central Region to withdraw the
candidature of Mr. Quayson, arguing that he was a Canadian citizen.
Despite the
petition, Mr Quayson managed to sail through to contest representing the
National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 parliamentary polls and got
17,498 votes representing (55.21%) while Abena Durowaa Mensah, the New
Patriotic Party’s candidate had 14,193 representing (44.79%).
Following Mr.
Quayson’s victory, a resident of Assin Bereku in the Central Region, filed a
petition at the Cape Coast High Court seeking to annul the declaration of him
as the MP of Assin North.
The Cape Coast
High Court upheld the request and declared the 2020 parliamentary election held
in the Assin North Constituency as null and void because Mr Quayson breached
the provisions of the constitution with regard to dual citizenship.
Although he went
to the Supreme Court to seek redress, Mr. Quayson was disappointed as the apex
court ordered Parliament to expunge
his name from its records.
A by-election
was subsequently held in which Mr. Quayson won by a landslide victory.
NDC MPs boycott
Parliament
The MPs who make
up the Minority Caucus in Parliament also decided to boycott
Parliament on days Mr. Quayson is expected to be in court in
solidarity with their comrade.
This decision
has been criticised by the members of the Majority Caucus.
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