The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has told an Accra high court that the application filed by the lead counsel for James Gyakye Quayson, Tsatsu Tsikata, seeking to stay proceedings pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal, “is grounded on irrelevant matters, distortion of facts and confusion”.
Arguing in opposition to the application by Tsikata, the AG declared that the application does not show any exceptional circumstances warranting a stay of proceedings in a criminal trial and that the application is designed merely to frustrate the criminal trial of the Assin North Member of Parliament.
Tsatsu’s case
Tsikata wants the high court to stay proceedings of the trial because of an appeal he has filed at the Court of Appeal challenging the decision by the high court on 23 June 2023 to conduct a day-to-day trial.
Dismissing an earlier motion on 23 June, the trial judge, Justice Mary Yanzuh, ruled that a day-to-day trial was consistent with many provisions of the law, as had been argued by Attorney General Dame.
However, in his submissions, Tsikata argued that justice will not be dispensed properly if the matter is scheduled for day-to-day trial.
AG’s submissions
Explaining what he meant by the point that Tsikata’s application is “grounded in irrelevant matters and confusion”, Dame noted that Tsikata had originally applied for a review or variation of the court’s order fixing the proceedings for day-to-day trial from 20-23 June 2023, as being an infringement of his client’s right to participate in an election.
It was the ruling on this application by Justice Yanzuh on 23 June 2023 that aggrieved Tsikata and prompted his appeal.
By the time Tsikata filed his appeal on 27 June, and by the time he filed his motion for a stay in proceedings, the material time that Tsikata was concerned about – 20-23 June 2023 – had long elapsed.
Dame thus submitted that, clearly, in this light, Tsatsu Tsikata’s application was incompetent, unnecessary and otiose.
“My Lady, this incompetent application, grounded on confused and distorted facts, can only be designed to waste the court’s time and nothing else,” Godfred Dame said in open court.
Alleged prejudice by Dame
Dame addressed the allegation, often made by Tsikata and other supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against him, that he had prejudiced the hearing of the criminal case against James Gyakye Quayson with comments he made in reaction to a Supreme Court ruling restraining Quayson from acting as an MP.
The Attorney General declared in open court that he had never, on any platform, made any comment about the ongoing criminal trial against Quayson.
“I have never commented on the criminal trial of Gyakye Quayson anywhere. Never. All my comments were related to the constitutional case, which the Supreme Court was seized of.
“When I stated that Gyakye Quayson must suffer the same fate as Adamu Dramani Sakande, it was in reaction to the Supreme Court ruling that he be restrained from going to Parliament, which is what happened to Adamu Dramani Sakande,” Dame said.
“The media house Myjoyonline reported this fact clearly in their publication which Mr Tsikata relies on as an exhibit. So, why is he once again distorting the facts and misleading the court?” the AG asked.
Akufo-Addo’s alleged prejudicial comments
The Attorney General further debunked the allegation by Tsatsu Tsikata that President Akufo-Addo had prejudiced the Quayson criminal trial by making certain remarks at the NPP’s last campaign rally in the run-up to the Assin North by-election, which took place on 27 June.
Dame strongly rejected this assertion and stated that once again, Tsikata’s claim was based on a distortion of the facts.
Dame invited the court to take a critical look at the tape that Tsikata had played in court, and said the court would notice that Tsikata had played only a few seconds from the president’s speech at the Assin North rally, not the full recording.
The Attorney General said the full recording of the president’s speech shows that President Akufo-Addo had only asked the people of Assin North why they “would want to vote for someone who was bedevilled by litigation – today high court, tomorrow Court of Appeal, tomorrow Supreme Court.
“Why do you want to vote for one who is bedevilled by litigation?” the president asked. “Gyakye Quayson says that even if he is in jail, the people of Assin North will vote for him, but is that what you want? One who will serve from jail?”
The Attorney General stated that under no circumstances can anyone who listened to the president’s speech allege that the president had prejudiced the hearing of the criminal trial.
“Mr Tsatsu Tsikata knew this and that is why he had deliberately and mischievously played only a few seconds of the recording of the president’s speech and not the full speech,” Dame submitted to the court.
Tsikata, Dame in “war of words”
Tsatsu Tsikata, in his affidavit in support of his motion, had alleged that what James Gyakye Quayson was going through was similar to what he, Tsikata, experienced under the Kufuor government in 2008 which led to his conviction by an Accra high court.
He further submitted that the current Attorney General’s conduct is similar to that of President Nana Akufo-Addo when he was the attorney general of Ghana (2001 to 2003).
Tsatsu Tsikata claimed that his observations about the AG’s alleged comments which have been dismissed by the High Court as “not relevant” were similar to his own travails with the law. Tsikata then openly warned that the Attorney General will be prosecuted in the same measure if power changes hands at the polls during the 2024 elections.
Dame promptly responded: “I sympathise with your experience when you found yourself in jail in 2008 but I can assure you that I will not conduct myself in a way that will land me in prison, like you did.”
Dame then asked the court, “Of what relevance is Mr Tsikata’s experience in 2008, 15 years before 2023, to this trial currently pending before the court?
“It is again an attempt to divert the court’s attention to irrelevant matters and same must not be tolerated.”
The trial judge, Justice Mary Yanzuh, will rule on the application for a stay of proceedings on Tuesday 11 July 2023.
Background facts
James Gyakye Quayson is standing trial for perjury, forgery and other counts of a criminal nature pertaining to his Ghanaian passport and eligibility to contest in the 2020 general elections.
The Republic’s case against Honourable Gyakye Quayson is that he lied on his passport application form, filed on 26 July 2020, that he was not a dual citizen and that he held only Ghanaian citizenship.
This was in spite of the fact that he was yet to renounce his Canadian citizenship, permission for which was granted on 30 October 2020. Further to this infraction against the law, Quayson also submitted forms to the Electoral Commission declaring that he held allegiance to the Republic of Ghana only.
This was even though he knew that the application to renounce his Canadian citizenship had not yet been granted at the time he filed his eligibility papers with the Electoral Commission on or between 5 and 9 October 2020.
Richard Takyi, a resident of Yamoransa in the Central Region, prayed the high court in Cape Coast to cancel Quayson’s victory in the December 2020 parliamentary election because he was not eligible to take part in the contest.
The matter travelled all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld the ruling of the Cape Coast court. The apex court of the land subsequently ordered that Quayson be removed from Parliament, occasioning a by-election.
In spite of the criminal prosecution facing Quayson, the National Democratic Congress put him forward again as its candidate for the election,which he won. He has since been sworn in again as the MP for Assin North while his trial proceeds.
Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra
Asaase Radio 99.5 broadcasts on radio via 99.5 in Accra, 98.5 in Kumasi, 99.7 in Tamale, 100.3 in Cape Coast and on our affiliates Bawku FM 101.5 in Bawku, Beats FM 99.9 in Bimbilla, Somua FM 89.9 in Gushegu, Stone City 90.7 in Ho, Mining City 89.5 in Tarkwa and Wale FM 106.9 in Walewale
Tune in to broadcasts online: www.asaaseradio.com, Sound Garden and TuneIn
Follow us on Twitter: @asaaseradio995
Live streaming on facebook.com/asaase99.5. Also on YouTube: Asaase Radio Official.
Join the conversation. Call: 020 000 9951 or 059 415 7777. Or WhatsApp: 020 000 0995.
#AsaaseRadio
#AmplifyingTheVoiceofOurLand
#SafeMotorway4All
