A political analyst has refuted claims made by some political figures suggesting that the criminal case involving James Gyakye Quayson would follow the same course as that of Adamu Dramani Sakande.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV with Kwesi Parker-Wilson, the political analyst, Yiadom Boakye, argued that the two cases are fundamentally different and that anybody who says they are the same is getting it wrong.
“Every indication proves that the two cases are not the same, nobody can say they are the same. Everybody saying there is a common denominator is having it wrong.
“In Adamu’s case, he was charged criminally straight away, there was no civil case levelled against him. But with this, there was a civil case and he [reference to Gyakye Quayson] has finished serving the penalties that came with it,” he said.
The political analyst explained that if the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, fails to establish that, Gyakye Quayson had a criminal intention and still went ahead to contest in the election, then he [Gyakye Quayson] will not go to prison as it is being claimed by some faction of the political space.
“In a criminal case, you must prove beyond a reasonable doubt whether he had the intent to cheat the nation. If the Attorney-General is not able to prove that even though Supreme Court judged the case in favour of the state and given its sentence, the High Court can choose to depart. This is because the high court is dealing with a criminal case whereas the Supreme Court dealt with a civil case. So, you cannot say they both are dealing with the same case,” he explained.
Responding to recent remarks by the Minister for Trade and Industries, KT Hammond, who suggested that James Gyakye Quayson would face imprisonment just like Adamu Sakande, the political analyst cautioned against such conclusions.
“We cannot conclude on that tangent because both cases have different trajectories. In the case of Adamu Sakande, he, at a point in time had three passports. He had that of Britain, Burkina Faso and Ghana and it appeared he hid all of them, it was later that all these were discovered.
“But in the case of Quayson, it is true that he tried about two times and the NDC rejected him because of his Canadian citizenship status, however with the third attempt he had started that process to renounce his citizenship” the analyst added.
NW/OGB
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Political Analyst, Yiadom Boakye
