Embattled Member of Parliament for Assin North has spoken hours after a Supreme Court order that directed for his name to be expunged from the records as MP.

A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, ordered Parliament to expunge the name of James Gyakye Quayson as a Member of Parliament.

In the ruling, the apex court barred Mr. Quayson from holding himself as a Member of Parliament for Assin North.

The ruling further noted that Mr. Quayson was not qualified at the time he contested the election in 2020.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP has since reacted, expressing disappointment in the court’s decision.

According to him, he renounced his Canadian citizenship, the moment he filed for a renunciation of same in December 2019 because per Canadian laws, allows for the disavowal of allegiance anytime once one’s renunciation is filed.

He also noted that once he applied for renunciation, he left Canada and therefore lost all rights of Canadian citizenship even before he picked up his renunciation certificate from the Canadian Embassy in November 2020.’

He however expressed appreciation to the people of Assin North for giving him the opportunity to serve and for the support showed him since hearing of his case began.

He also said he has turned the page on the matter to the court of conscience.

Read his full statement here:

I Remain Committed To The Development Of Assin North Constituency and Her People

This morning, the Supreme Court by a unanimous decision, ordered the Parliament of Ghana to expunge my name from its records as a Member of Parliament. The Court ruled that the Electoral Commission acted unconstitutionally in allowing me to contest the 2020 Parliamentary Elections without proof that I had denounced my Canadian citizenship at the time I filed my nomination in October, 2020 to contest the parliamentary elections in the Assin-North constituency.

In fact, the EC inspected my renunciation certificate in November 2020, prior to allowing me to contest the elections. Thus, I was duly qualified to run, according to the EC’s regulations, which the law presumes to be regular. Yet, the Court holds that I should have offered this proof to the EC at the time of filing for my nomination and then applies the holding retrospectively to disqualify me.

It is a matter of public record that I filed for the renunciation of my Canadian citizenship in December, 2019. It is also a matter of record that I left Canada in February, 2020. It is also a matter of record that as soon as I applied for renunciation of my Canadian citizenship and left Canada, I lost all the rights of Canadian citizenship. It is also a matter of record that I picked up my renunciation certificate from the Canadian Embassy in Accra in November, 2020.

It is also a matter of public record that Canadian law does not say I owe allegiance to Canada, even after filing for renunciation. In fact, Canadian law is unequivocal that disavowal of allegiance is subjective and can be done at any time, including immediately after swearing the oath of citizenship. Thus, under Canadian law, I owed no allegiance to Canada at all material times.

I am, of course, disappointed by the Court’s decision. I am especially surprised that the Court now says that foreign bureaucrats now determine whether natural born Ghanaians have the right to contest for parliamentary elections in Ghana or not. Thus, a country that does not allow renunciation of its citizenship can bar a natural born Ghanaian, who has severed all relations with a country of acquired citizenship, from ever standing for MP.

Nevertheless, I have turned the page on litigating this matter in the courts of justice. I leave the matter to the court of conscience, which Ghandi reminds us, supersedes all other courts.

Helping to develop my constituency has always been, and remains, my priority. I assure my constituents that nothing has changed, and I will work even harder than before to win their support and to attain these goals.

I thank the good people of Assin-North, the leadership of the NDC, my attorneys, and the numerous Ghanaians, from all sides of the political divide, who have supported me during these turbulent times. Together, we must ensure that we build a progressive and inclusive society that does not treat any of our citizens as second-class citizens.

May God bless our homeland Ghana, and bless my beloved Assin North Constituency and her people.

Thank you.

signed
James Gyakye Quayson
[Assin North Constituency]

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