Lead lawyer for Assin North Member of Parliament, James Gyakye Quayson, has grilled the first state witness in the MP’s criminal trial currently before an Accra High Court.
Tsatsu Tsikata and his team started cross examination after multiple efforts to overturn the ruling of the court for a daily hearing of Quayson’s trial failed to materialize.
In excerpts of the exchanges shared by a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) legal team, Tsikata takes the witness, Richard Takyi-Mensah through the process he engaged in recording his statement and how Quayson was eventually cleared by the Electoral Commission to contest in the 2020 polls.
He extracted two major responses from the witness, that the EC had cleared Quayson to contest and that his statement which he claimed was recorded in English was actually done in Twi.
Further Cross Examination by Tsatsu TSIKATA of PW1 on 18/7/2023
Tsatsu TSIKATA: Were you aware of a complaint lodged with the EC against the candidacy of the accused person for the election in December, 2020.
PW1, Richard Takyi Mensah: Answer: I did read about it.
Q: Are you aware that following that complaint, the EC went into the matter of the complaint?
A: As I did say, I did read about it.
Q: Are you aware that the complaint was that he was not qualified to stand for those elections, are you not?
A: Per what I read, I read that a group sent a complaint to the EC.
Q: And you are aware that the complaint was based on his owing allegiance to a country other than Ghana, are you not?
A:Yes my lady per what I read, that was what the complaint was about.
Q: Are you aware that the EC cleared the accused person to stand for those elections, are you not?
A: Per what I read, the EC invited the complainant and the accused to a meeting and based on what the accused told the EC, then based on that the EC cleared him.
Q: The EC cleared the accused person, is that correct, are you aware of that?
A: Yes my lady. I have already said that per what I read, the EC did clear him based on what the accused put before the EC.
Q: So you realize that the accused participated in that election on the basis of being cleared by the EC.
A: Yes my lady based on what the accused told the EC.
Q: You cannot say on what basis the accused was cleared by the EC, can you?
A: I am basing it on what I read.
Q: And you are claiming that you read that he was cleared on the basis of what he told the EC, is that what you are saying to this court?
A: Yes my lady.
Q: My question was, you are aware that the EC asked the complainant to provide evidence?
A: No my lady, that did not come to my attention.
Q: Just have a look at this document and see whether that is your signature at the back?
A: Yes, it is my signature.
Q:If anybody claims that you spoke in Twi in making that statement to the Police, they would not be telling the truth, would they?
A: I have already said that I did write in the English language.
Q: Just read to the hearing of the court the first sentence of Exhibit 1?
A: PW 1 reads the first sentence of exhibit 1 in open court.
Q: So you have seen the statement, the complainant STATES in Twi Language.
A: Yes that is what is stated in Exhibit 1.
Q: You signed this document according to you.
A: Yes my lady.
Q:And you read the document before you signed it, did you not?
A: I did.
Source: ghanaweb.com
