The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has expressed his disappointment at the on-going criminal trial of the ousted MP for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson.
Speaking to the media after court proceedings on the case on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, Ablakwa said that he is ashamed to be a Ghanaian because of the ordeal Gyakye Quayson is going through even though he has committed no crime.
He said that the government is abusing its power to ensure that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) wins the Assin North by-election which is slated for March 27, 2023.
He added that there are more important cases that the courts should be looking at but it has been silent and it is being manipulated to look into the Assin North case.
“What is going on is very, very clear that Honourable James Gyakye Quayson is a victim of political shenanigans, abuse of power and manipulation of the judiciary.
“Gyakye Quayson has committed no crime, even before the 2020 election, some people raised the same issue of his dual citizenship and petitioned the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission looked into it, they assessed all his documents and cleared him.
“This Quayson case is a national embarrassment. It is disgraceful and like many Ghanaians, I am ashamed to be a Ghanaian at this time under President Akufo-Addo with this clear and blatant manipulation of the judiciary that we are seeing,” he said.
The MP added that even if Gyakye Quayson is imprisoned, the people of Assin North will elect him to be their representative just like Dr Kwame Nkrumah was elected when he was in prison.
The High Court in Accra, on Friday (June 18, 2023), ruled that the ongoing criminal trial of ousted Assin North Member of Parliament, James Gyakye Quayson, will be heard daily starting from Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
This was after the presiding judge, Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, turned down an application for the trial to be adjourned till after the by-election.
The Court has since fixed June 20, 21, and 23 for the trial to continue.
Quayson was recently ousted from parliament after the Supreme Court of Ghana ruled that he was ineligible to contest in the 2020 parliamentary election because he failed to renounce his Canadian citizenship in time.
But there is still one case the former MP has to face in court after the Office of the Attorney General accused him of deceiving public officers to acquire state documents.
On February 12, 2022, the State charged James Gyakye Quayson with five counts; deceit of a public officer, forgery of a passport, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and false declaration.
Source: ghanaweb.com
