Dual citizenship: Assin North MP petitions Chief Justice to remove judge
Assin North MP, James Quayson, has petitioned the Chief Justice to remove the judge hearing the petition challenging his citizenship.
The team insisted that the trial judge, Justice Kwasi Boakye, be removed over fairness.
A member of the legal team, and NDC National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi, informed the media of this development after Tuesday’s court proceedings.
It would be recalled that the lead counsel for the MP, Abraham Amaliba, had asked the trial judge to recuse himself over alleged comments that he made on April 12.
Justice Kwasi Boakye is alleged to have said that the appropriate time that Article 94(2) of the 1992 Constitution kicks in is during the filing of the nomination by an MP.
But the judge denied making any such comments and dismissed the oral application for him to recuse himself.
Richard Takyi Mensah is the representative of the petitioner. He, together with the petitioner’s legal team described the attempt by the respondent to have the presiding judge removed as a calculated move to delay the petition.
According to them, the NDC wants to muddy the waters and drag the case unduly.
Why James Quayson is in court
A private citizen and a resident of Assin Berekum, Micheal Ankomah Nimfah, filed a suit at the Cape Coast High Court challenging the qualification of Mr Quayson as the MP-elect for the area.
The mason averred that at the time Mr Quayson filed his nomination, he was still holding onto his Canadian citizenship. He failed to denounce his citizenship as required by law.
Ghana’s laws bar dual citizens from holding public offices in Ghana.
In freezing the MP Elect’s right to be in parliament, the judge said: “the allegation contained is of grave nature, and he could not hold himself as MP.”
Also, the NDC MP-Elect did not have the renunciation certificate to present before the court to confirm that he had indeed renounced his Canadian citizenship.
Although court documents showed the MP-Elect received his certificate on November 26, at the time he filed his nomination, he did not have the requisite qualification.
NPP strategy
On December 23, 2020, the governing New Patriotic Party sought to trigger a by-election by challenging the eligibility of James Quayson to contest in the Assin North parliamentary elections, which he won.
Legal practitioner, Gary Nimako, had asked the Ghana Immigration Service to confirm if indeed the NDC MP-elect had renounced his Canadian citizenship before the December 7 parliamentary elections.