Assin North petition: Case adjourned to June 21

Proceedings in the case of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Assin North Member of Parliament (MP) have been halted pending the directive of the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah.

The presiding judge, Justice Kwasi Boakye, told the parties in court yesterday that he had been served a copy of the petition seeking to remove him as the presiding judge in the petition challenging the election of Mr James Gyekye Quayson as the MP for Assin North.

At the last hearing, the legal team of Mr Quayson revealed that it had petitioned the Chief Justice to remove Justice Boakye over what it described as lack of fairness in the case.

At the hearing yesterday, Mr Boakye said he could not proceed further with the case until the Chief Justice directed him on the next line of action in the ongoing case.

On the change in legal representation of Mr Abraham Amaliba for Mr Quayson, Mr Amaliba revealed that although he complied with the judge’s request to have his client served the notice of his withdrawal via EMS, technical hitches on the part of station masters made it impossible for his client to receive the said documents.

The case has subsequently been adjourned to June 21, 2021.

At its last hearing, it came to light that Mr Amaliba had not served the MP the notice to withdraw his legal services to enable the MP to appoint a new lawyer.

Justice Boakye, therefore, directed Mr Amaliba to serve the notice about his intention to withdraw his legal services to the MP in order to expedite the hearing of the petition.

Election petition

Mr Quayson polled 17,498 votes as against 14,793 by the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) Ms Abena Durowaa Mensah in the December 7, 2020 parliamentary election.

However, on December 30, 2020, a resident of Assin North, Mr Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, filed a petition at the Cape Coast High Court challenging the eligibility of Mr Quayson to be an MP.

He contended that the MP was not eligible on the basis that at the time he (Quayson) filed his nomination to contest as a parliamentary candidate, he was still a citizen of Canada.

Such an act, he argued, was against the express provision of Article 94 (2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution and Section 9(2) of the Representation of the People Act 1992 (PNDCL 284).

Among other reliefs, the applicant wanted the Cape Coast High Court to declare the nomination filed by Mr Quayson as “illegal, void and of no legal effect”.

He also sought a declaration that the decision by the EC to clear Mr Quayson to contest as a parliamentary candidate was “illegal, void and of no legal effect”.

Another relief sought by the applicant was an order restraining Mr Quayson from holding himself as the MP-elect for Assin North and another order cancelling the parliamentary election that took place in Assin North on December 7, 2020.