A political science Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Abass Mohammed has emphasized that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) cannot evade blame for the recent expulsion of former Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency, Gyekye Quayson from Parliament by the Supreme Court due to his dual citizenship.
According to the KNUST don, if the NDC aims to be a serious and responsible party aspiring to capture power, they should have conducted due diligence by thoroughly checking the necessary documents of their candidate before allowing him to contest the elections.
The political scientist further highlighted that the Electoral Commission of Ghana shares some responsibility for the oversight, as they also failed to conduct the necessary checks to ensure the MP's eligibility to run in the elections.
Speaking in an interview with Kwabena Mensah Abrompah on Radio Univers on May 18, 2023 he further emphasized the significance of due diligence in such cases, explaining that the responsible institution; in this instance the Electoral Commission, should have thoroughly examined and verified the candidate's details.
In the case of Gyekye Quayson, the political scientist noted that the candidate himself should have taken responsibility and noticed any discrepancies in his documentation.
“Things like this it have to do with the Electoral Commission of the institution in charge to do their work well. That is what we call due diligence, that means the person has provided a lot of information, so they were supposed to check and verify some of these details.
“In this particular case (Gyekye Quayson), the candidate should have been responsible enough to see that some of the details were not right. And his party as a whole cannot be excused as a political party from this, because if the party is serious and wants to rule the country, then they are also supposed to do the due diligence and be responsible enough to know that all the people that they will present are clean and clear” he said.
Background:
The State had on February 12, last year, charged James Gyakye Quayson with five counts being; deceit of a public officer, forgery of a passport, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and false declaration.
As the trial continued on July 2022, his lawyers led by Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata questioned the competency of the Prosecution’s First Witness, Richard Takyi-Mensah, a teacher and his subsequent tendering of his witness statements.
But, his objection was overruled by the trial Judge Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzu on grounds that the witness was competent and duly admitted the witness statements and paragraphs.
Dissatisfied with the High Court’s ruling, Mr. Quayson and his lawyers filed a motion at the Supreme Court seeking to quash the decision of the trial judge and Order of Prohibition against the judge.
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Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr Abass Mohammed
