The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has advised the Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, who is also a High Court judge to desist from making controversial statements.
The Suame MP says the chief’s remarks on James Gyakye Quayson’s case might prevent his promotion to the Supreme Court.
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, who disagrees with the Dormaahene’s call for the state to discontinue the criminal trial of the Assin North MP-elect, said such utterances cannot be made by a sitting judge.
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu wondered if he would have advocated for a discontinuation had the case been a murder trial.
Speaking in an interview with Pure FM, on Monday, July 3, he advised him to tread carefully when it comes to such matters.
“The Dormaahene is a respected chief and a distinguished judge, as such his comments are not ordinary but I must say that I disagree with him on the call to drop Quayson’s case.
“We are talking about constitutional matters here. Is it the case of the chief that he would call for same to be discontinued if it was a murder charge or any other?
“Is the respected chief saying that if someone flouts the law, we should let it go? I disagree. I think he should come out to explain further.
“He is a judge, is it his position that should the case be before him, he would have rejected or made similar utterances?” he quizzed.
“It is right for us all to allow the law to run its due process and course. We can ask the question whether the State has a case or not but beyond that, we cannot abuse the process.
“As an Appeals Court Judge, he is a potential candidate to the Supreme Court. Comments like this might haunt and affect the chance when posed to him at vetting. I disagree with him,” he concluded.
Background
The chief who doubles as President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs says he disagrees with the initial ruling made by the Supreme Court, which declared Gyakye Quayson’s parliamentary position invalid due to his dual citizenship status.
“He [Gyakye Quayson] said he was not willing to stay in Canada, he dropped his citizenship and returned to Ghana to help. When he got here, he had a bit of a challenge and the Supreme Court ruled that his mandate as an MP should be nullified,” he stressed.
He made these comments during the Professor John Evans Atta Mills Commemorative Lecture in Sunyani on Saturday, July 1.
Addressing the gathering, the Dormaahene made it clear that he would have taken a divergent stance if he had been part of the panel deciding on the matter.
“Some of us were not happy with that. If I were on the Supreme Court, I would have gone left and not the right,” he said.
His comment comes after Mr Quayson won the Parliamentary polls despite being ousted from Parliament by the Court and his name expunged from the House’s records.
Mr Quayson is facing charges of forgery and perjury in relation to certain alleged offences in the lead-up to the 2020 Assin North parliamentary election.
He pleaded not guilty to five counts of forgery of passport or travel certificate, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury and false declaration for office.
But Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II is urging the Attorney-General to drop the criminal charges against Mr Quayson, the Member of Parliament-elect for Assin North.
“When the man had his name expunged from Parliament, didn’t they go to vote again? Was he voted for or not? Didn’t he get an overwhelming majority, 57.56%, is that a mere victory?”
“As a matter of urgency, I [Dormaahene] am appealing to the President of the Republic [Akufo-Addo], if he has any role to play, that trial should be aborted, and the Attorney-General should as a matter of urgency file a nolle Prosequi to end that particular decision and abort the criminal case against Mr Quayson,” the Dormaahene added.
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