NPP's Nana B details how Assin North MP lost his seat

National Youth Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, has provided detailed justifications of the annulment of Assin North parlimentary elections.

A Cape Coast High Court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye canceled the 2020 parliamentary elections in the Assin North constituency, hence rendering the election of Mr. James Gyakye Quayson as Assin North Member of Parliament (MP) invalid.

The court has ordered Mr. Gyakye Quayson not to hold himself as Assin North MP stressing ''the Assin North MP who still holds himself as the MP is a complete violation of Article 94 (2a) and the court should declare his election null and void."

The court ruling is in relation to a challenge that the MP at the time of filing to contest the 2020 parliamentary elections had not renounced his Canadian citizenship, thus held dual nationality.

He was therefore dragged to court by a resident of Assin Bereku in the Central Region, Michael Ankomah-Nimfa.

NDC Threaten To Appeal Case

The NDC Minority in Parliament has said it will appeal the ruling.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu expressed his disappointment saying "we in the Minority remain unshaken, we are confident that it is our seat and would remain our seat.

“But it is worrying, we don’t want to believe that the courts of Ghana have been captured and become forums being used surreptitiously to tilt the balance of power, and to weaken the time-tested historical notion of checks and balances.

“Justice must not only be done but must manifestly be seen to be done”, Mr Iddrisu added.

Assin North MP Breached The Laws

However, it appears to Nana Boakye, the NDC Minority's appeal might also fail in court as he provided details as to why the Assin North MP infracted the laws.

Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Henry Nana Boakye disclosed that, "during the time he had the interest to become an MP, he was bound by some documents between 5th to 9th October and while doing that, he also committed himself under a statutory declaration that the words he's saying are true.

"But during our investigations, we found out that it was on 26th of November that he received a certificate of renunciation which shows he is no longer a Canadian; so the period that he filed for nomination, he was a Ghanaian and Canadian simultaneously.''

He read the Canadian Citizenship Act which states, ''if an application under subsection 1 is approved by the Minister, the Minister shall issue a certificate of renunciation to the applicant and the applicant ceases to be a citizen after the expiration of the day on which the certificate is issued to or any later day that the certificate may specify,'' stressing the Act, therefore, proves that the Assin North MP's Canadian nationality had not been revoked at the time he contested the parliamentary elections.

"So, until you receive that certificate, you remain a Canadian citizen and that there is a date on the certificate; it's two things meaning you cease to be a Canadian citizen on the day that you receive the certificate or they will specify a date to authorize your renunciation as a Canadian," he expounded.

To him, by all indication, the MP is in violation of Article 92 (4a) of the 1992 constitution which demands that a person can only become an MP when he owes allegiance to only Ghana but, according to the Canadian Citizenship Act, the MP ceased to be a Canadian citizen on 26th November last year which was after he had filed for nomination and contested the elections.

He read that on the MP's certificate of renunciation was written, ''this is to certify that the person named above has formally renounced Canadian citizenship pursuant to the Citizenship Act will cease to be a citizen on 26th November, 2020.

"So, it is only on this date that he is not a Canadian, but the time he filed for his nomination, he told us he holds no dual citizenship but owes allegiance to only one country which is Ghana," he emphasized.