Parliament declares Assin North seat vacant

Parliament has officially written to the Electoral Commission (EC) declaring the Assin North seat vacant.

“I Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, Clerk to Parliament do hereby formally notify you of the occurrence of a vacancy in the Assin North Constituency necessitated by the Judgement of the Supreme Court dated 17th May 2023 vide Writ No. J1/11/2022 issued in respect of James Gyakye Quayson in the case of Micheal Ankomah Nimfah vrs James Gyakye Quayson, the Electoral Commission of Ghana and the Attorney General request you to take appropriate consequential actions as required by law,” the Clerk of Parliament wrote in a letter to the EC.

The move paves the way for the EC to set a date for the by-election in the Assin North Constituency in the Central Region.

A seven-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Jones Dotse has, by unanimous decision, declared the election and swearing-in of the MP for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, as unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect.

The apex court held that Quayson was not qualified to contest for the position of Member of Parliament at the time of filing his nomination forms in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The court further held that the Electoral Commission (EC) erred when it allowed Quayson to stand for the Assin North seat in the 2020 general election when he had not shown evidence of renunciation of his Canadian citizenship.

The panel, which also included Justices Nene Amegatcher, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Yonny Kulendi and Barbara Ackah-Yensu, announced in court that the full reasons for their decision will be made available on 7 June 2023.

Source: AsaaseRadio