A former Justice of the Appeals Court, Justice Isaac Douse, has disagreed with the Supreme Court’s judgment that resulted in the removal of James Gyakye Quayson, the former Member of Parliament for Assin North.
In his assessment, Justice Douse believes that the justices who presided over the case made a significant error in ruling that Gyakye Quayson was ineligible to contest in the 2023 elections.
During an interview on CTV on Friday, June 17, 2023, as reported by GhanaWeb, the former judge stated that the ousted MP successfully demonstrated to the court that he had taken the necessary steps to renounce his citizenship, which should have been sufficient.
“You write an examination and you are given a result that shows that you have passed but you are denied admission because you have not been given a certificate yet. So even though you have passed because you don’t have the certificate, you don’t get admission.
“This is what the ruling of the judges means. They (the judges) erred bad time,” he said in the Twi dialect.
Justice Isaac Douse also said that the criticism the Supreme Court is facing over its ruling is justified.
He added that when Ghanaians living abroad get high positions in foreign governments they are praised but when one is going home to help, s/he is faced with unnecessary impediments.
Background:
The Supreme Court of Ghana, on May 17, 2023, ordered the Parliament of Ghana to expunge the name of James Gyakye Quayson as a Member of Parliament (MP).
Justice Jones Victor Dotse, Justice Nene Amegatcher, Justice Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Araba Torkornoo, Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Justice Yonny Kulendi and Justice Barbara Ackah-Yensu declared that Quayson was not qualified at the time he contested the election 2020 in the Michael Ankomah Nimfah vs James Gyakye Quayson case.
According to the court, the ousted Assin North MP failed to prove that he had renounced his Canadian citizenship when he filed his nomination to contest the 2020 general elections.
Parliament subsequently declared the Assin North seat vacant, leading to the Electoral Commission of Ghana announcing a by-election on May 27, 2023, to fill the seat.