Gyakye Quayson’s criminal case to be heard daily – High Court rules

The High Court in Accra has ruled that the ongoing criminal trial of ousted Assin North Member of Parliament, James Gyakye Quayson, will be heard daily starting from Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

The court decided to hear the case daily upon the request of the lawyer of Gyakye Quayson, Justin Terriwajjah, after the presiding judge, Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, turned down an application for the trial to be adjourned.

Teriwajah prayed that the court postpones the hearing until after the by-election, set for June 27, 2023, to give his client a fair chance to contest since he was carrying out a national assignment, graphic.com.gh reports.

But, the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, opposed this suggestion saying that no one sent the former MP on a national assignment.

Lawyer Teriwajah then pleaded that the trial should proceed daily but after the by-election.

Justice Maame Ekue Yanzuh rejected the plea of Gyakye Quayson’s lawyer and ruled that the trial would proceed daily a week before the by-election.

The Court has since fixed June 20, 21, and 23 for the trial to continue.

Quayson was recently ousted from parliament after the Supreme Court of Ghana ruled that he was ineligible to contest in the 2020 parliamentary election because he failed to renounce his Canadian citizenship in time.

But there is still one case the former MP has to face in court after the Office of the Attorney General accused him of deceiving public officers to acquire state documents.

On February 12, 2022, the State charged James Gyakye Quayson with five counts; deceit of a public officer, forgery of a passport, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and false declaration.