KT Hammond rejects Minority’s claim that gov’t is prosecuting Assin North MP to reduce NDC numbers in Parliament

Adansi Asokwa Lawmaker, Kwabena Tahiri (KT) Hammond has dismissed claim by the Minority in Parliament that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government intends to reduce the numbers of the opposition Members of Parliament in order to get the E-levy passed by prosecuting the Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson.

He said that is not the case because the Attorney General is following the due process in handling this matter.

KT Hammond told journalists that “”We are dealing with this issue that all this has come about because government wants to reduce their numbers. By what? No.

“In the end, the first court said my friend, you are disqualified , he has gone through some processes and I do not know where it has ended. I am told it went to the Supreme Court . If your case is that government is pursuing him when he hasn’t exhausted all his legal process, it is entirely different matter. But what gets my buck up is this suggestion that the government intends to do that because they want to reduce then NDC numbers.

“I wouldn’t cry over whatever happens to him because we warned him from day one that he was playing with the big inflammable fire.”

The Minority in Parliament expressed concerns over the criminal charges against Mr Gyakye Quayson.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu said at a press conference in Accra on Thursday February 3 that this is an attempt by the government to reduce the number of seats being occupied by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament in order to get the E-levy passed.

“The caucus’ attention has just been drawn to some efforts and attempts by the Nana Akufo-Addo /Bawumia power drunk autocratic regime resort to intimidation and and ominous desperate act to get the obnoxious insensitive E-levy before parliament passed.

“Having failed in many respect to get the loathe E-levy passed in the wake of popular national resistance led by the NDC gallant MPs of 137, the Nana Addo Dankwa government has now resorted to very crude and for all intents and purposes, democratically shameful, disgraceful tactics to attempt to reduce by all means possible necessary including foul, to reduce the numbers of NDC Minority of 137 hoping that that will aide their efforts to railroad their e-levy into law,” he said.

The Assin North MP Mr Gyakye Quayson has been charged with forgery, perjury and also deceiving a public officer and knowingly making a false declaration.

“The brief facts of this case are that the accused person James Gyakye Quayson is the Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency. The complainant, Richard Takyi-Mensah is a teacher and a resident of Yamoransa in the Central Region of Ghana.

“On 26th July 2019, the accused person signed an application form for a Republic of Ghana passport. In the application form, he indicated that he is a Ghanaian and does not have a dual citizenship. The accused at the time held a Canadian citizenship issued on 30th October 2016 but failed to declare the same on the application form. The passport application of the accused person was vetted on the 29th of July 2019.

“Based on this false information together with the other information provided by the accused person on the passport application form, he was issued with a Ghanaian passport, number G2538667 on 2nd August 2019.

“Again, before the 2020 General Elections of Ghana was conducted on 7th December 2020, nominations were opened between the 5th and the 9th of October 2020. The accused person picked up nomination forms to contest for the position of Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency. The accused person at the time was a Ghanaian and a Canadian citizen, making him a dual citizenship holder. Therefore, he was disqualified under Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana to be a Member of Parliament.

“In part IV of the nomination forms of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the accused person used a statutory declaration which he had sworn to on 6th October 2020 before the District Court Registrar at Assin Fosu stating that he does not owe allegiance to any country other than Ghana. The accused person further went ahead to file his nomination forms on 8th October 2020 with the false information in the statutory declaration. Based on this false information together with other information provided by the accused person in the nomination forms, his nomination was accepted by the Electoral Commission.

“He contested for the position and subsequently won the seat. The accused person was issued a Certificate of Renunciation of his Canadian citizenship dated 26th November 2020, about forty-eight days after he had made the false statutory declaration and filed his nomination forms.

“On 14th January 2021, the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department received a petition dated 11th January 2021 from the complainant in which the complainant reported these actions of the accused, leading to investigations against him. In his cautioned statement to the police, the accused person claimed that at the material time, he honestly believed that he did not owe allegiance to any other country. The accused person was subsequently charged with the offences in the charge sheet.

It is based on these facts that the accused person, James Gyakye Quayson has been arraigned for trial.”

A Cape Coast High Court, presided over by Justice Coram Kwasi Boakye, had earlier ruled that Mr Gyakye Quayson was not eligible to contest the December 7, 2020 Parliamentary Elections because he bore dual citizenship before picking nomination forms from the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC).

Fresh elections were, as a result, ordered to be conducted while Mr Gyakye Quayson was asked to cease from holding himself as MP.

But the man accused of having Canadian and Ghanaian citizenship allegedly goes to Parliament to join in proceedings.