The Assin North seat has been formally declared empty by Parliament in a letter to the Electoral Commission (EC).
Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, Clerk of Parliament, wrote to the EC on Monday, May 29, according to reports
The letter was based on the Supreme Court’s most recent decision and directions, according to the sources.
A by-election will be necessary for this vacancy.
James Gyakye Quayson’s name was ordered to be removed from Parliament’s records by the supreme court after it was determined that he had not renounced his Canadian citizenship when he submitted his nomination papers to run for office.
On May 17, the presiding judge Justice Jones Dotse concluded that the Electoral Commission (EC) acted unconstitutional law by permitting him to run in the 2020 parliamentary elections without providing evidence that he had renounced his Canadian citizenship.
This relates to the lawsuit that Michael Ankomah Nimfah, a constituent, filed.
Mr. Nimfah had asked the court to rule that, according to a true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, Mr. Quayson was ineligible to run for office as a member of Parliament at the time he submitted his nomination form to do so in October 2020 for the 2020 Parliamentary elections for the Assin North constituency.
According to this clause of the constitution, a person who has allegiance to a nation other than Ghana is ineligible to serve as a member of parliament.
Mr. Quayson was found to be ineligible at the time he submitted his candidature paperwork, the court decided in a unanimous ruling.
It further ruled that it was illegal for the EC to have permitted him to challenge although he had not provided proof of giving up his Canadian citizenship.
His seat was to be declared vacant to allow for a by-election, and his name erased from the house’s records.
