Court of Appeal strikes out Quayson’s stay of proceedings application

The Court of Appeal has struck out Gyakye Quayson’s application for stay of proceedings of his trial at the High Court.

Lawyers for the embattled Member of Parliament for the Assin North constituency last week moved an application for the High Court to stay proceedings to allow for the Court of Appeal to hear his appeal to review a decision by the trial judge to hear his case on a daily basis, but the plea was rejected.

Mr. Quayson thus run to the Court of Appeal to have the High Court’s ruling overturned, but he failed to make any progress.

The MP is going through trial at the High Court in Accra on charges of forgery and perjury.

Gyakye Quayson’s woes

The woes of Mr. Gyakye Quayson began with his declaration of intent to contest the Assin North Parliamentary elections in 2020 on the ticket of the opposition National Democratic Congress when a group called ‘Concerned Citizens of Assin North’ petitioned the Electoral Commission in the Central Region to withdraw the candidature of Mr. Quayson, arguing that he was a Canadian citizen.

Despite the petition, Mr Quayson managed to sail through to contest representing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 parliamentary polls and got 17,498 votes representing (55.21%) while Abena Durowaa Mensah, the New Patriotic Party’s candidate had 14,193 representing (44.79%).

Following Mr. Quayson’s victory, a resident of Assin Bereku in the Central Region, filed a petition at the Cape Coast High Court seeking to annul the declaration of him as the MP of Assin North.

The Cape Coast High Court upheld the request and declared the 2020 parliamentary election held in the Assin North Constituency as null and void because Mr Quayson breached the provisions of the constitution with regard to dual citizenship.

Although he went to the Supreme Court to seek redress, Mr. Quayson was disappointed as the apex court ordered Parliament to expunge his name from its records.

A by-election was subsequently held in which Mr. Quayson won by a landslide victory.

NDC MPs boycott Parliament

The MPs who make up the Minority Caucus in Parliament also decided to boycott Parliament on days Mr. Quayson is expected to be in court in solidarity with their comrade.

This decision has been criticised by the members of the Majority Caucus.