Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, has been acquitted and discharged of five criminal charges, including forgery and perjury, by an Accra High Court.
This was after the court presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue upheld a submission of no case to answer filed by the MP and his lawyers, led by Tsatsu Tsikata.
While relying on Section 173 of Act 30, which talks about the acquittal of the accused when no case to answer was made, the Court said the State failed to prove its case.
“Where at the close of the evidence in support of the charge, it appears to the Court that a case is not made out against the accused sufficiently to require the accused to make a defence, the Court shall, as to that particular charge, acquit the accused,” Section 173 of Act 30 stated.
Justice Mary Yanzuh was of the view that, the prosecution failed to establish the essential ingredients of the crimes with which the MP was charged.
The Court said, the MP for Assin North James Quayson did not make false declarations on his nomination forms for the 2020 elections as alleged by the Prosecution.
The Court said at the time he declared that he owed allegiance to no other country besides Ghana, he had already submitted an application for renunciation of his Canadian citizenship and therefore, his intent was not dishonest.
Justice Yanzuh also acknowledged the inconsistencies in the passport summary sheet tendered by the prosecution as evidence and statutory declarations presented by prosecution witnesses.
The judge concluded that, Mr Quayson could not be called upon to open his defence.
Charges
The State on February 3, charged James Gyakye Quayson, the MP for Assin North with five counts including perjury.
Mr Quayson, who contested the Parliamentary seat of the Assin North Constituency and won on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress, has had his seat declared vacant by the Cape Coast High Court of his Canadian nationality switch.
With the criminal suit filed on behalf of the Attorney General by the Director of Public Prosecution Mrs Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, Mr Quayson is facing five criminal charges.
The charges are Deceit of Public officer, forgery of passport or travel certificates, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury and false declaration for office.
Brief facts
According to the brief facts of the case, the accused person James Gyakye Quayson is a Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency.
It said, the complainant, Richard Takyi-Mensah is a teacher and a resident of Yamoransa in the Central Region of Ghana.
According to the prosecution, on July 26, 2019, the accused person signed an application form for a Republic of Ghana passport.
It said, in the application form, he indicated that he is a Ghanaian and does not have dual citizenship.
The prosecution stated that the accused at the time held Canadian citizenship issued on October 30, 2016, but failed to declare the same on the application form.
The prosecution added that the passport application of the accused person was vetted on July 29, 2019.
“Based on this false information together with the other information provided by the accused person on the passport application form, he was issued with a Ghanaian passport, number G2538667 on 2nd August 2019,” the brief facts stated.
Election 2020
The brief facts stated that “before the 2020 General Elections of Ghana was conducted on 7th December 2020, nominations were opened between the 5th and the 9th of October 2020.
“The accused person picked up nomination forms to contest for the position of Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency.
“The accused person at the time was a Ghanaian and a Canadian citizen, making him a dual citizenship holder” the brief facts stated.
“He was therefore disqualified under Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana to be a Member of Parliament.
“In part IV of the nomination forms of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the accused person used a statutory declaration which he had sworn to on 6th October 2020 before the District Court Registrar at Assin Fosu stating that he does not owe allegiance to any country other than Ghana,” it stated.
“The accused person further went ahead to file his nomination forms on 8th October 2020 with the false information in the statutory declaration.
“Based on this false information together with other information provided by the accused person in the nomination forms, his nomination was accepted by the Electoral Commission,” the prosecution noted.
Victory in election 2020
He contested for the position and subsequently won the seat.
The accused person was issued a Certificate of Renunciation of his Canadian citizenship dated 26th November 2020, about forty-eight days after he had made the false statutory declaration and filed his nomination forms.
“On January 14, 2021, the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department received a petition dated January 11, 2021, from the complainant in which the complainant reported these actions of the accused, leading to investigations against him.
In his cautioned statement to the police, the accused person claimed that at the material time, he honestly believed that he did not owe allegiance to any other country.
The accused person was subsequently charged with the offences in the charge sheet.
It is based on these facts that the accused person, James Gyakye Quayson has been arraigned for trial.
