President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs and the Omanhene of the Dormaa Traditional Area, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, has appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo to intervene in the prosecution of MP-elect for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson.
Speaking at the 10th-anniversary lecture of John Evans Atta Mills, in Sunyani, Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II. who’s a sitting High Court Judge, known in judicial practice as His Lordship, Justice Daniel Mensah insisted the President should take steps to halt the trial.
The lecture was under the theme: “The Man, John Evans Atta Mills: 10 Years On."
He also urged the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame to file a nolle prosequi to end the trial of the re-elected MP for the Assin North constituency.
Mr. Quayson is facing criminal charges brought against him after he lost his seat as Member of Parliament for Assin North for allegedly failing to renounce his dual citizenship status before filing to contest the 2022 parliamentary elections.
“As a matter of urgency, I am appealing to the President of the Republic, Attorney General if he has any role to play, that trial should be aborted. The Attorney General should as a matter of urgency file a nolle prosequi to end that particular decision,” he appealed.
According to him, Mr Quayson’s prosecution will add nothing to Ghana’s unity or development.
“Honestly, I don’t see the benefits this prosecution will bring Ghanaians. If he is in court, he can’t fulfil his mandate so the president and the Attorney General should do something urgently to end this matter, so we move on as Ghanaians,” he added.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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hmmmmm how the civil case was decouple from the criminal one still i do not understand. one person gets it another does not, very soon he will say he is an MP on national assignment so cannot be in court like me and you. court must seek permission from the speaker of parliament before, eh ghana sweet oh. the man won his seat again and we have silence, no blame on EC hmmmmm so when one party wins there is peace but when the party lose hmmmmmm.
I've heard comments that the Sakande and Quaison cases are different. They may be, but let's not forget that in criminal cases it is the mens rea and actus reus that are important. Here is a case since 2012 somebody was turned down twice to become a contestant for a party. But the third time he succeeded because he had initiated the process to renounce his citizenship to another country. The questions is why wait for 8 years? This may prove the mens rea - the guilty intent! He had previously tried to use the back door but did not succeed! As for the actus reaus - the physical intent, in my view, that is the gravamen of the case - he swore that whatever he presented were nothing but the truth - which has now been established to be untrue. Please, read the Supreme Court verdict. The lawyers of the accused person admitted that he had NOT renounced his Canadian citizenship at the time of filing. So, whether Sakande and Quaison are similar or not, the ingredients are very similar - they each lied, they each filed to contest when they were citizens of other countries. And, they each knew they were lying when they swore affidavit that the information they were presenting were "nothing" but the truth. Well, all said and done, I think we should allow the courts to decide, based on the facts. As for a chief calling for discontinuation, it is his right although chiefs are supposed to be non-partisan. I only hope that in future they will do the same when their favorite is in charge.
As a Magistrate and a Lawyer which I think this chief is. How does he interpret the Criminal Code? That if a crime is committed the culprit is tried by the republic, then acquit and discharge if found innocent but punish if guilty of the crime? Why are our chiefs losing their sanity and integrity because of politics? As a Lawyer he should know better and leave this to those chiefs who are legally naïve.
This Chief is a pure NDC man. We know him; ignore him and allow the laws to work.
The evidence is clear. Party chief at his best.
He's probably pleading with the president because this is a case being prosecuted by the attorney general. How about allowing the case to progress but requesting the judiciary to execute justice devoid of political interference or biases / settlement of personal scores, but rule based on the facts and merits of the case in the phase of the law? People are equating this to Adamu Sakande's case, while I believe that the ruling of that case is a key precedent for the court, are the facts of the two cases the same? Are the actions and inaction of the two individuals the same? Were their motivations similar? I understand that in the latter's, the EC had the opportunity to assess his circumstances and cleared him as eligible to contest, was it the same in the case of the former? So assuming the current one exercised poor judgement, is it not also that the EC excersised poor judgement? And if the whole institution equipped with seasoned lawyers could get it wrong due to the complexity of the issue, is it surprising that the candidate could get it wrong? Could we establish that there was a will to commit criminal offence assuming this is established to be criminal? And if so, why then should he alone be prosecuted or penalised for criminal offences when the EC had also thought and argued like himself?
Sad! Nobody asked Mahama to discontinue the trial of Adamu Sakande. Now everybody including a chief who is also a lawyer is calling for the President to stop the prosecution? The same people will protest that the President is interfering in the judicial process if the President ask for a discontinuation of a case against a member of his government. I can see that some Ghanaians simply hate Akufo Addo no matter what! Since he came to power, everyone is complaining about bad roads, bad schools, bad this or that 0 where were these people when the NDC or Mahama was president. is it the case of Mahama fixing all these roads (and, they claimed to have fixed many of them) but Akufo Addo has destroyed them in a matter on six years? I cry for Ghana. I will always cry for Ghana!
What an “F”! Are you the law and upon what authority are you asking the president to abandon this case? Upon what authority will the president quash this case? Kinda illiterate partisan chief! Gyae ka, an y3n gyae tie!
really !! how will we progress as a nation when we have leaders like this one who wants to go the law