Parliament, through its clerk, has written to the Electoral Commission (EC) declaring the Assin North seat vacant.
This follows the Supreme Court’s ruling on the eligibility of James Gyakye Quayson to occupy the Assin North seat.
In a memo to the Electoral Commission, the clerk stated, “I, CYRIL KWABENA OTENG NSIAH, Clerk to Parliament, do hereby formally notify you of the occurrence of a vacancy in the Assin North Constituency necessitated by the Judgement of the Supreme Court dated 17 May 2023 vide Writ No. J1/11/2022 issued in respect of James Gyakye Quayson in the case of Michael Ankomah Nimfah vrs James Gyakye Quayson.”
In a unanimous decision, the apex court ordered Parliament to expunge James Gyakye Quayson’s name from its records after it concluded that he failed to renounce his Canadian citizenship when filing his nomination forms to contest the polls.
The 7-member panel presided over by Justice Jones Dotse ruled that the action by the Electoral Commission (EC) to allow Mr Quayson to contest when he had not shown his certificate of renunciation of his citizenship of Canada was unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect.
This was after the plaintiff Michael Ankomah Nimfah filed an application seeking, among others, a true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution.
He sought to invoke the original jurisdiction of the apex court of the land to declare the election of Mr Gyakye Quayson unconstitutional.
