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A former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament(MP) for Akwatia constituency, Baba Jamal says the Supreme Court ruling to stop the Assin North MP from holding himself as a legit Member of Parliament is ‘unfortunate’.
 
According to him, the decision to oust James Gyakye Quayson is “unfair” to the Member of Parliament who has suffered to serve his country.
 
“He has sacrificed to serve this country. Forcing the court to withdraw his membership as an MP is not fair. He is a Ghanaian,” he said in an interview with NEAT FM’s morning show, 'Ghana Montie'.
 
Quayson’s Lawyers defence
 
Lawyers Tsatsu Tsikata and Justin Teriwajah had contended that prior to the election, the eligibility of Mr Quayson was challenged.

But the Electoral Commission cleared the MP to contest the polls.

They stated that the matter ended up at the High Court with the court nullifying the polls.

They, however, indicate that the High Court in Cape Coast erred in concluding on the matter because it should have referred relevant portions of the Constitution to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
 
Supreme Court judgment
 
The Supreme Court today, Wednesday, April 13, 2022, passed its judgement that it is illegal for James Gyakye Quayson to parade himself as a lawmaker for the Assin North Constituency in the Central Region.

The Apex Court by a 5:2 majority ruling delivered barred the NDC MP, Mr Quayson from performing any Parliamentary duties until the determination of the substantive case filed against him at the Supreme Court.
 
Background
 
Mr Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, a resident of Assin Bereku in the Central Region, filed a petition at the Cape Coast High Court seeking to annul the declaration of Gyakye Quayson as the MP Assin North.

To him, the MP had dual citizenship prior to filing nominations to contest for the Assin North parliamentary seat during the 2020 polls.

The Cape Coast High Court subsequently declared the 2020 parliamentary election held in the Assin North Constituency as null and void, as it upheld that Gyakye Quayson breached the provisions of the constitution with regard to dual citizenship.

But James Gyakye Quayson subsequently appealed the judgment, at the Court of Appeal in Cape Coast, but the case was subsequently dismissed.

He again sought cover from the Supreme Court.

Michael Ankomah-Nimfah also dragged the issue to the Supreme Court in a bid to have Quayson prevented from carrying himself as the MP for Assin North.

He filed a writ to invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, seeking interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the Constitution.