Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson Charged With Forgery
James Gyakye Quayson, the contested NDC Member of Parliament for Assin North, is facing five counts of criminal offenses, even as the ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP, tries to have him removed from office through the Supreme
Court.
According to court documents obtained by Citi News, the state is pursuing him for deception of a public officer in
violation of section 251 (b) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, Act 29; forgery of a passport or travel certificate in
violation of section 15 (1) (b) of the Passports and Travel Certificates Act, 1967 (NLCD 155); and knowingly making a false Statutory Declaration in violation of the Statutory Declarations Act, 1971, Act 389.
He also faces charges of perjury under section 210 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, Act 29 and false declaration for office under section 248 of the same act.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to hear an injunction case seeking to prevent him from performing his obligations as a Member of Parliament.
Mr. Quayson completed a Ghana passport application form on July 26, 2019, professing Ghanaian citizenship while declaring that he did not hold any other citizenship, according to the facts of the case as seen.
He is claimed to have held Canadian citizenship, which he received on October 30, 2016.
According to the processes shown, James Gyakye Quayson neglected to declare the same on his application form, according to the state.
The state claims that, despite the fact that his Ghanaian passport application form was vetted on July 29, 2019, he was awarded a Ghanaian passport (number G2538667) on August 2, 2019, based on the fraudulent information and other information he gave.
Mr. Quayson signed up nomination paperwork to run for the Assin North seat before the 7th December 2020 General Elections, according to the state, when he held both Ghanaian and Canadian citizenship.
He was thus disqualified under article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution, but he stood on a statutory declaration sworn to before the Assin Fosu District Court on October 6, 2020, stating that he owed no allegiance to any country other than Ghana, and to file his nomination forms on October 8, 2020, with the false information in the statutory declaration.
According to the state, Mr. Quayson was awarded a Certificate of Renunciation of Canadian Citizenship (dated November 26, 2020) just 48 days after making the false statutory declaration and filing his nomination documents.
