The Minority in Parliament has said the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North James Gyakye Quayson does not have a police guard or escort to “prevent service” of a court notice.
The Registrar of the Supreme Court, Matthew Antiaye had disclosed that the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, allegedly directed his bodyguard and Personal Assistant (PA) to throw out the Bailiff who went to serve him with an order from the court.
The Registrar disclosed this in court on Tuesday, 8 February 2022.
Reacting to the allegations made against the Assin North MP in a statement issued on Wednesday, 9 February 2022, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu noted that: “This is the first time in the history of Ghana that such a flagrant disregard of the privileges of Parliament and breach of the Constitution has taken place.”
The Minority also commended Justices of the Supreme Court for upholding the sanctity of the constitution.
“We in the Minority are deeply concerned by that blatantly unconstitutional act which was recognised by the Supreme Court for what it is a brazen violation of the Constitution. We applaud the justices of the Supreme Court for upholding the fidelity of the law by pointing out to the desperate lawyers of the NPP the brazenly unconstitutional nature of the attempt to serve a sitting MP on the precincts of Parliament. We urge the Court to continue to uphold the sanctity of the Constitution.”
The Minority further continued that: “We are also aware that the said bailiff of the Supreme Court Registry is alleged to have informed the Court that he was assaulted by the police escort of the Hon. Member for Assin North. We wish to emphasise that the Honourable Member for Assin North, Hon. James Gyakye Quayson, does not have a police guard let alone a police escort to prevent service. This fact can be cross checked from the Ghana Police Service.”
The Minority, therefore, condemned the action by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“It is clear that in their desperate attempt to implicate the Hon. Member in acts of criminality, the NPP lawyers are now seeking to concoct facts to justify criminal charges against the Hon. Member.
“This is a sad development for our democracy and we wish to condemn it in no uncertain terms.”
The Supreme Court Bailiff, Joshua Baning, was thrown out of the MP’s office at job 600, Parliament House, on Tuesday, 1 February 2022.
According to the Bailiff, he personally informed the MP about the order he had gone to his office to serve him.
The Bailiff was, however, thrown out by the MP’s bodyguard and PA based on the orders of the lawmaker.
The court asked that the Registrar submits a report to the Chief Justice for investigation and appropriate action.
Meanwhile, Lawyer for the Applicant, Francis Davis has indicated that they will have to apply to the court for leave in order to explore other means of service.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 1 February 2022, ordered the registrar of the court to personally serve the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament-elect for Assin North, Mr James Gyakye Quayson, with a notice of a court action which has been instituted against him.
This followed failed attempts to have the Assin North MP-elect served with the court notice through parliament.
A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Michael Ankomah Nimfah, filed an application at the Supreme Court to injunct the MP-elect.
The applicant is also seeking an interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution which stipulates that: “A person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he – (a) owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana”, ruled that his election is unconstitutional, null and void.
The MP-elect was, however, not in court
Source: Mynewsghana
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