Akufo-Addo seeking to stop Assin North MP from voting on E-levy with an injunction - Kwakye Ofosu

Assin North MP’s eligibility challenged

Contention in parliament over E-Levy

Minority opposes E-Levy

With the gridlock between the majority and minority sides of parliament over the controversial E-Levy still pending, the government and the minority is set to have a technical victory in terms of numbers to approve the bill.

According to a leading member of the

Read full articleopposition National Democratic Congress, the government, through judicial intervention, is securing an injunction against a member of the minority side to prevent him from participating in parliamentary activities.

In a Twitter post sighted by GhanaWeb, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of instigating the injunction against the embattled Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyekye Quayeson.

“So, in a desperate last throw of the dice, NPP Lawyer, Frank Davies, at the obvious instigation of Akufo-Addo, is seeking judicial intervention in the passage of the E-Levy by bringing an injunction against the Assin North MP to prevent him from participating in voting in Parliament,” Kwakye Ofosu tweeted.

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A Cape Coast High Court in July 2021 ruled that Mr Quayson held dual nationality when he filed his papers to contest the seat in contravention of the constitution.

This was after a private citizen filed a suit challenging the eligibility of Mr Quayeson in contesting the 2020 parliamentary election, which he won.

After filing an appeal against the ruling of the court and a stay of execution against holding himself as MP for Assin North, the embattled member of the opposition party has been participating in parliamentary activities, insisting that he has the right to hold himself as MP.

In an interview with Joynews in August 2021, Mr Quayeson maintained that “the court directive is there, but also there is a process that you take after such pronouncements and rulings, and I have satisfied all the requirements. I am not going to get into details on that. But, based on processes that I have initiated, it gives me the opportunity to stay as MP for Assin North.”

“And for that matter, any committee I belong to in parliament which is also an extension of parliament equally binds my membership, which is why I was in the meeting,” he added.

The seeming equal number of representations in terms of numbers for the majority and minority in parliament has heavily delayed the government’s effort to pass a 1.75% levy on all electronic transactions.

The minority who have heavily opposed the E-Levy bill have on various occasions engaged the majority sides in heated confrontations over the bill, which in some instances degenerate into full-blown brawls in the chamber of parliament.

With a 137 membership on the minority side and a 138 membership on the majority side, an injunction on the Assin North MP will reduce the minority numbers, which will play to the advantage of the majority in terms of decision making in the house during voting.

Meanwhile, GhanaWeb's sources in parliament indicate that a temporary injunction has been secured against Mr Gyekye Quayeson preventing him from carrying himself as an MP for the next ten days

So,in a desperate last throw of the dice,NPP Lawyer,Frank Davies,at the obvious instigation of Akufo-Addo,is seeking judicial intervention in the passage of the E-Levy by bringing an injunction against the Assin North MP to prevent him from participating in voting in Parliament.

— Felix Kwakye Ofosu (@FelixKwakyeOfo1) February 1, 2022