Member of the NDC’s legal team, Lawyer Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe has said that the decision by the Cape Coast High Court to nullify the election of James Gyakye Quayson and also his eligibility as the lawmaker for the Assin North constituency in the Central region does not barred him from contesting the fresh election as ordered by the court.
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According to Lawyer Tamaklo, “The High Court held that at the time the EC issued the notice of polls and the Hon Quayson filed his nominations, he didn’t have the certificate of renunciation issued by Canada.
The certificate of renunciation was issued in November 2020 before the election, however, the notice of polls came in October 2020.
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Hon Quayson applied for the renunciation much earlier but the Canadian Authorities only issued the certificate of renunciation on the 26th November 2020,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
He added that, By this decision of the court, Hon Quayson is now qualified to contest the bye-election because he now has the certificate of renunciation.
Once the EC issued the notice of polls for the by-election, Hon Quayson will be qualified to contest.”
The Cape Coast High Court on Wednesday 28 July 2021 annulled the 2020 parliamentary results of the Assin North constituency.
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The court has therefore directed for a fresh election to be held in the constituency to choose a new MP for the area. Justice Kwasi Boakye read his ruling in court on Wednesday, July 28, 2021.
The petitioner, Michael Ankomah Nimfah, contended that Quayson held dual citizenship as a Ghanaian and a Canadian at the time of his election, and therefore must be restrained from performing the duties of a Member of Parliament.
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Ahead of the ruling, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress Sammy Gyamfi accused the registrar at the Cape Coast High Court of colluding with the governing NPP to manipulate court processes against the Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson .
According to him, the registrar Ustaz Hamza had refused to show up or open the registry of the court to enable lawyers of the embattled MP to file the motion for the trial judge to refer the case to the Supreme Court.