Group petitions EC to disqualify NDC Assin North parliamentary candidate
The group says the parliamentary candidate of the opposition NDC owes allegiance to the Republic of Canada
A group calling itself Concerned Citizens of Assin North (CCAN) has petitioned the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, to withdraw the candidature of James Gyakye Quayson, the parliamentary candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Assin North.
The group, in a letter dated 17 November 2020 addressed to the EC chair and signed by William Cobbina, the group’s conveyor, and Razak Owusu, secretary of the CCAN, argues that the NDC parliamentary candidate owes allegiance to the Republic of Canada, for which reason he cannot offer himself to hold the high office of a Member of Parliament of the Republic of Ghana as provided for by Article 94 (2)(a) of the 1992 constitution.
Article 94 (2)(a) of the 1992 constitution of Ghana states: “A person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he – (a) owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana.”
It is the contention of the group, therefore, that if James Gyakye Quayson, the NDC parliamentary candidate for Assin North, is allowed to contest the election, it will undermine the supremacy of the constitution as espoused in Article 2(1) of Ghana’s 1992 constitution – “the Constitution shall be the supreme law of Ghana and any other law found to be inconsistent with any provision of this Constitution should, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void”.
“We also wish to bring to your notice, the ‘fraudulent misrepresentation’ by Mr Quayson, as he bears different names for different purposes, which is a clear violation of our laws in Ghana, unless he has sworn an affidavit to change his name, pursuant to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1965 (Act 301),” the group said.
“The name he bears on his Canadian passport is James Quayson (passport number: HN426280), address: 30 Styles Crescent, Ajax, Ontario, Canada. However, he bears the name James Gyakye Quayson on the notice of polls for the upcoming parliamentary election in the Assin North constituency,” the letter from the group addressed to the EC said.
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