When Members of Parliament of the 8th Parliament of Ghana took their Oaths of Office in the early hours of January 8, 2021, amidst all the widely-reported issues that happened on the floor of the Chamber, none quite imagined a day would come when they would be making history.
The history in Ghana’s parliament is that while there have been many instances where bye-elections have been held, allowing for new entrants to be sworn into office to serve their respective constituents, what happened with James Gyakye Quayson is the first.
In the normal order of things in the Parliament of Ghana, when there have been needs to for bye-elections, they have been occasioned by the deaths of sitting Members of Parliament, just as the recent case of Kumawu was when their sitting MP, Philip Basoah, died.
That was the first bye-elections of 2023, and by extension, of the 8th parliament, but in the case of the second one, which saw the National Democratic Congress’ James Gyakye Quayson re-run for the Assin North seat, was not occasioned by a death.
Rather, the MP had to go back to seek the votes of his constituents in order to occupy the seat he was sworn into office in January 2021 for, because of a legal tussle that concluded that his election was unconstitutional.
James Gyakye Quayson had been dragged to the Supreme Court by a private citizen over claims that as at the time he run for the parliamentary elections of 2020, he had a dual citizenship with Ghana and Canada.
The ruling of the apex court on May 17, 2023, in a unanimous decision, was that parliament should expunge the name of the NDC man, on the basis that the Electoral Commission acted wrongly in not allowing Quayson to provide evidence that he had renounced his Canadian citizenship.
With time, plans had to quickly be put in place to organise a bye-election for Assin North, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) stuck to their man, James Quayson.
Going head-to-head with the New Patriotic Party’s Charles Opoku as the main contenders in the elections, the brief campaign season in the constituency saw perhaps, the most fiercely contended campaign for a bye-election in many years in the country.
And it was to be expected that the likes of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and former president and current flagbearer of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama, and other very highly-placed political leaders of both parties ‘stormed’ the place to campaign.
In the end, the people of Assin North once again gave the nod to James Gyakye Quayson, sealing what was done in 2020, and making him a historical figure in Ghana’s parliament.
By winning this election and having been officially sworn into office on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, the MP becomes the first person to have ever, technically, become a Member of Parliament of the same constituency twice in the same parliament.
In congratulating his colleague after he was sworn in as the MP for Assin North, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, wrote “Congratulations Hon. James Gyakye Quayson — the only MP in the entire parliamentary history of the Gold Coast and Ghana to be sworn-in twice in a term of Parliament.”
And like many others, the swearing-in of James Gyakye Quayson has brought a lot of people joy, especially in the NDC, with plans in play to see a victory celebration in Assin North over the coming weekend.
Although all the troubles James Gyakye Quayson faced in court are not over, as he is currently also facing a criminal case by the state at an Accra High Court.
While that persists, the NDC continues to celebrate what is described by many as one of the many strides in the party’s confidence in winning the 2024 general elections.
Profile of James Gyakye Quayson:
The following profile is culled from Wikipedia.com
James Gyakye Quayson (born 9 October 1952) is a Ghanaian politician who was elected to serve as the Member of Parliament for the Assin North constituency in the 2020 General Elections until his eligibility was challenged in court. Controversy: in violation of Article 92, Clause 2a of Ghana’s constitution, “a person shall not be qualified to be a member of parliament if he owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana”. In a ruling on Wednesday, 28th July 2021, a Cape Coast High Court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye declared the 2020 parliamentary election held in the Assin North constituency, null and void.
Early life and education
Quayson hails from Assin Bereku in the Central Region of Ghana. He had his secondary education at the prestigious Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, completing in 1969. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences (1996) and a master’s degree in Urban Planning and Community Development (2015) from York University in Toronto, Canada.
Career
Prior to being in parliament, he worked as a District Manager for the City of Toronto Employment and Social services from 2020.
Politics
Gyakye Quayson is a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and was the member of parliament for Assin North Constituency in the Central Region of Ghana.
Challenge to membership of parliament
In December 2020, a resident of Assin Bereku, Michael Ankomah-Nimfah filed a petition at the Cape Coast High Court questioning the eligibility of Quayson’s MPship for Assin North due he holding dual citizen of Canada and Ghana at the time he filed his papers at the Electoral Commission of Ghana to stand in the 2020 Ghanaian general election when nominations were closed on 9th October 2020. According to the Ghanaian constitution, no person with dual nationality may hold office in government or parliament. The court upheld the petition and ordered a by-election for Assin North constituency. The by-election was held on the 27th of June, 2023.
Court proceedings
A Cape Coast High Court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye ordered fresh parliamentary elections to be conducted in the Assin North constituency after declaring the election null and void, Mr. Quayson went on to challenge the decision of the High Court at the Appeals Court in which his application was dismissed.
Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, the plaintiff/applicant who filed an election petition against Mr. Quayson has initiated another action at The Supreme Court of Ghana requesting that, the court allows the Cape Coast High Court judgement to take effect as well as prevent further breach of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana by restraining him as member of parliament (MP) since he continued to sit in parliament as MP and this was challenged within the house as well.
On 13 April 2022, The Supreme Court by a 5-2 majority decision ruled that he should stop holding himself as a member of parliament. He indicated his intention to contest the Supreme Court ruling by filing an application for The Supreme Court to review its own decision. The Supreme Court set 13 June 2022 for the trial against Mr. Quayson after postponing his application review for restraining him to hold himself as MP and preventing him to attend Parliament to conduct business on behalf of the people of Assin North constituency.
In a unanimous decision by The Supreme Court of Ghana consisting of Justices Jones Dotse, Nene Amegatcher, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkonoo, Prof Henrietta Mensah Bonsu, Emmanuel Kulendi and Barbara Ackah Ayensu, presiding Judge Justice Jones Dotse on 17 May 2023 ruled that the Electoral Commission of Ghana acted unconstitutionally by accepting the nomination of Mr. Quayson without proof of citizenship renunciation before contesting the 2020 parliamentary elections. The Apex court outline four reasons for arriving at this decision in the case against Mr. James Gyakye Quayson which didn’t sit well with the minority, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the defendant, Mr. Quayson expressing his disappointment at the court’s decision.
By-elections
In a letter to the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) on Monday, 29 May 2023, Parliament of Ghana declared the Assin North constituency seat vacant making way for a by-election. The EC announced 27 June 2023 as the date for the by-election in Assin North constituency in a press statement on Wednesday, 31 May 2023 and nominations will be received from 12 to 14 June 2023.
Mr. Quayson, in a statement on 1 June 2023, officially declared his intention to contest in the Assin North constituency by-election with support from his party, the National Democratic Congress. On 27th June 2023, Mr. Quayson won the Assin North constituency by-election with 17, 245 votes, constituting 57.56% of votes cast. This figure indicates a significant reduction of his votes obtained in the 2020 general election, which was 17,498 votes representing 55.21%
Committees
Hon. Gyakye Quayson was a member of the House Committee and also a member of the Local Government and Rural Development Committee.
Personal life
James Gyakye Quayson is a Christian.