Deposed Assin North MP James Quayson Risks Imprisonment – Attorney General Hints

• Assin North MP could be fighting another legal battle soon if criminal charges of perjury are brought against him
• The Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, has said the deposed MP faces the possibility of imprisonment like Adamu Sakande
• Mr Sakande, a former member of the Fifth Parliament for the Bawku Central, was sentenced to prison for two years for perjury and deceiving a public officer

Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has hinted at initiating a criminal case against the deposed Assin North Member of Parliament, James Gyekye Quayson.

Speaking to journalists shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that the Mr Quayson could not hold himself as a lawmaker, the Attorney General said the deposed MP faces the possibility of imprisonment like Adamu Dramani Sakande.

Mr Sakande was a Ghanaian politician and a member of the Fifth Parliament for the Bawku Central in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

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Assin North: James Gyekye Quayson cannot hold himself as an MP – Supreme Court rules

He was accused of making a false statement in an application to have his name registered in the voters' register.

State prosecutors said he later went ahead to vote in the December 2008 general elections when he was not entitled to do so.

A cattle dealer disclosed that Mr Sakande held both British and Burkinabe passports.

It is a criminal offence for a person to run for public office while holding allegiance to another country.

He was sentenced to two years imprisonment for false declaration of office, perjury and deceiving a public officer.

Mr Sakande died in September 2020.

Mr Dame told the press on the outskirts of the Supreme Court that there must be even application of the law.

"There ought to be an equal application of the law, the same fate that befell Adamu Sakande who was not qualified at the time that nominations were opened, and we all know what happened to him.

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"Subsequently, they declared him ineligible, and his seat was taken away, so there ought to be even application of the law," the Attorney General told reporters, according to a 3News report.

In 2021, a High Court in Cape Coast annulled that the Assin North parliamentary polls that James Gyekye Quayson had won.

The court ruled that the opposition National Democratic Congress candidate was not qualified to contest for the Assin North seat because he held allegiance to Canada when filing to contest the seat.

Assin North: James Gyekye Quayson Cannot Hold Himself As An MP – Supreme Court Rules

The Supreme Court has ruled that the embattled NDC lawmaker for Assin North, James Gyekye Quayson, must stop holding himself as an MP.

According to a 3News report, the decision was taken by a seven-member panel of judges presided over by Justices Jones Dotse.

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More trouble for NDC MPs; Supreme Court grants order for substituted service over double salary saga

The ruling delivered on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, was a 5-2 majority decision.

Source: YEN.com.gh