Can Assin North MP stand the test of the court

The honorable James Quayson, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North, has been moving from court to court ever since his dual citizen case came to public notice.

There have been various interpretations of the case he is fighting in court. The apex court has cleared all hurdles and sets a date for its ruling on the case.



Read full article/> We will analyze the for and against of the case and leave the rest to the revered judges to do their job.

There are many, especially from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), who think the wait for a by-election is just a matter of time. An influential member of the ruling party, known to many as the de-facto prime Minister, made remarks that many thought left much to be desired.

Gabby Otchere Darko tweeted, "April is looking good for a by-election". It is surprising that the apex court is actually set to rule on the case in April. The honorable Muntaka, the minority Chief Whip, said these comments are what many allege that the ruling party is influencing judges. He indicated that they will say things like this and, actually, it will happen. Mr. Mubarak Muntaka thinks that such comments inadvertently create the impression that they are influencing the judiciary.

However, the opposing National Democratic Congress (NDC) thinks that their member did nothing wrong as he renounced his Canadian citizenship as far back as December 2019.

This position of his party is heavily supported by Professor Kwaku Asare, also known as Kwaku Azar. His position is that the honorable James Gyakye Quayson's case is not about dual citizenship as the MP renounces his citizenship, but the processing which was delayed as a result of the COVID-19 resulted in the renunciation being approved in November 2020, a process which normally takes three months.

The law professor indicated that the electoral commission inspected his certificate of renunciation in a letter on November 24th and cleared him to run for the position. He added that the position that the MP did not compel the Canadian authorities to quickly process his renunciation papers early enough before the filing date is something he will not agree to and will reject outright.

It is worthy to note that these positions will have no bearing on the ruling that will be made next week. This ruling will bring an end to a legal tussle that has lingered on for nearly five years.