Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, has been sworn in for the second time as MP for his constituency in a momentous event that seems to have marked the climax of a fierce battle for his seat in Parliament.

The memorable occasion took place on July 4, 2023, in Parliament. Speaker Alban Bagbin led Mr Quayson to swear both the Oath of Allegiance, which affirms his loyalty to the Republic of Ghana, and the Oath of Member of Parliament, which specifically relates to his role as a legislator.

Key members of the party, including former President John Dramani Mahama, who is also the flagbearer of the party, National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, General Secretary Fiifi Kwetey, running mate for John Dramani Mahama in the 2020 election Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Mr Joshua Alabi and others, were all present to grace the occasion.

His fellow MPs on the Minority side, all clad in white, were also present in their numbers to support Mr Quayson, who has become the party's 'darling boy' following the matters that have arisen over his citizenship. Parliament reverberated with jubilation as the Minority MPs cheered him on while he took the oath of office.

However, most MPs on the Majority side (i.e. NPP MPs) did not turn up for the event. Their absence highlights the party's position on the MP's re-election while still entangled in a legal battle over his citizenship.

His swearing-in gives him an opportunity to fully resume his parliamentary duties, despite the ongoing legal tussle spewing from his just ended dual citizenship case.

For the past two years, Mr Quayson has been in court standing trial for possessing dual citizenship. The court case was triggered by one Richard Takyi-Mensah, a teacher and a resident of Yamoransa in the Central Region, who sued the MP for failing to renounce his Canadian citizenship at the time he picked nomination forms to contest the Assin North Constituency election in 2020.

The Supreme court by a majority decision of 5-2 on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, ordered the MP to stop holding himself as a lawmaker following a Cape Coast High Court’s earlier ruling that James Gyakye Quayson was not eligible to contest December 7, 2020, Parliamentary Elections because he bore dual citizenship before picking nomination forms from the Electoral Commission, Ghana.

The legal team of the embattled MP subsequently filed for a review of the Supreme Court ruling that stopped him from carrying himself as a lawmaker.

However, on May 18, 2023, the Supreme Court directed Parliament to expunge him from their records. This led to a by-election which he eventually won.

Meanwhile, the MP is still in court facing charges of perjury and deceiving a public officer after the Supreme Court nullified his election as MP for Assin North for holding Canadian citizenship and being a Ghanaian when he filed his nomination to contest the election in 2020.

The Court will hear his case on July 6, 2023.

Source: The Independent Ghana| Jessie Ola-Morris