Parliament has declared the Assin North seat vacant following a ruling by the Supreme Court ordering the House to expunge the name of James Gyakye Quayson from its records.
A letter to the Electoral Commission (EC) signed by the Clerk of Parliament, Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah notified the electoral management body of the vacant seat.
Top news Parliamentary Correspondent Yesmeen Abubakar Tetteh in a report said,The letter dated Monday, May 29, 2023, was based on the recent ruling and orders of the Supreme Court and notified the EC of the vacancy which will require a by-election.
“In the exercise of the power conferred and the duty imposed on the Clerk to Parliament by section 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 1996 (Act 527), 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 17th May 2023 vide Writ No. J1/11/2022 issued in respect of James Gyakye Quayson in the case of Michael Ankomah Nimfah vs James Gyakye Quayson, The Electoral Commission of Ghana and The Attorney General and request you to take appropriate consequential action as required by law.”
The apex court in a unanimous decision a fortnight ago, ordered Parliament to expunge James Gyakye Quayson’s name from its records after it found that he failed to renounce his Canadian citizenship at the time of filing his nomination forms to contest the 2020 Assin North parliamentary elections.
