Private legal practitioner, Lawyer Maurice Ampaw has vehemently opposed the calls for the government to discontinue the criminal trial of the Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson.
The Assin North MP is currently facing criminal charges over his citizenship before contesting in the 2020 Parliamentary Elections. According to the Supreme Court, Mr. Quayson failed to fully renounce his Canadian citizenship before contesting the elections as required by the electoral laws of the country.
The apex court, therefore, directed Parliament to expunge his name from the records of the House.
After his name was expunged, Gyakye Quayson contested again in the by-elections which he won massively beating his close contender from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) with a significant margin.
Following his emphatic win, a debate has been awakened by the Dormaahene, Oseadeayo Nana Agyeman Badu II that the criminal trial against Mr. Quayson should be halted.
Dormaahene called on President Akufo-Addo and the Attorney-General to file a nolle prosequi to discontinue the case.
But Lawyer Maurice Ampaw says it will be discriminatory to discontinue the criminal case against the Assin North Member of Parliament, James Gyakye Quayson. He further added that it will also be a political suicide for the NPP should be the case be aborted.
The lawyer who was speaking on Accra-based Neat FM said, “politically, it will be suicidal to discontinue the case . . . in the first place, the platform Dormaahene stood on to make the appeal was wrong. Dropping the Criminal case will be highly discriminatory because there are a lot of other people facing criminal charges”.
