Some high-profile members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have been spotted in Parliament ahead of the swearing-in of embattled politician James Gyakye Quayson as Member of Parliament for Assin North.
The delegation including the presence of former President, John Dramani Mahama shows the significance of the swearing-in ceremony to the umbrella family.
The NDC Members of Parliament were wearing white attire, signifying victory and the importance of the swearing-in ceremony.
Meanwhile, the MPs on the other side, were still settling into their places in the chamber.
The swearing-in ceremony is an important step in reaffirming James Gyakye Quayson’s mandate as the elected Member of Parliament for Assin North.
In the Assin North by-election, Mr. James Gyakye Quayson won with 17,245 votes, representing 57.56 percent of the total votes cast, defeating Charles Opoku of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Bernice Enyonam Sefenu of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG).
Charles Opoku received 12,630 votes, accounting for 42.15 percent of the votes cast in the highly contested by-election, while the LPG’s Bernice Enyonam Sefenu received only 87 votes (0.29%).
Gyakye Quayson, who received 17,498 votes in the 2020 election, was booted out of Parliament for possessing dual citizenship prior to filing his nomination documents.
Meanwhile, Mr Quayson is facing charges of forgery and perjury in relation to certain alleged offences in the run-up to the 2020 Assin North parliamentary election.
He has 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.
It is the case of the prosecution that Mr. Quayson allegedly made a false statement to the Passport Office that he did not hold a passport to another country when he applied for a Ghanaian Passport.
Also, the prosecution has accused Mr. Quayson of making a false declaration to the Electoral Commission (EC) to the effect that he did not owe any allegiance to a foreign country when he filed to contest as a candidate for the Assin North seat.
