NDC MPs For Assin North And Jomoro Likely To Lose Their Seats As Appeals Court Dismisses Their Applications In Dual Citizenship Case

It was a massive blow to the legal expectations of the NDC MPs for Assin North and Jomoro, Joe Gyaakye Quayson and Dorcas Affo Toffey.

The two have been locked in a tussle over their dual citizenship since they won their respective seats and were sworn into the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic.

In the case of Assin North MP, Mr Quayson, his appeal for a stay of proceedings after Justice Kwasi Boakye had earlier dismissed same appeal in the lower court was also dismissed by the Court of appeal.

The panel of three judges unanimously dismissed the application of the applicant for a stay of proceedings.

The judges then advised counsel for the applicant to test the law at the Supreme Court in respect of his contention that despite the revocation of rules 27A and 28 of C. I. 19 by C. I. 132, the Court of Appeal still has inherent jurisdiction to grant motions for stay of proceedings.

The MP for Jomoro, on the other hand, had also filed an application to stay execution of the High Court’s order on her to produce documents evidencing the renunciation of her alleged Ivorian citizenship.

Lawyer for the Jomoro MP, Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, says his client [the MP for Jomoro] has never pleaded any such document so the High Court erred in ordering the said MP under Order 21, rule 8(1) of C. I. 47 to produce a document which the said MP never pleaded.

The court directed the Jomoro MP to petition the Electoral Commission for a copy of the said document in order to satisfy the order of the lower court and therefore dismissed the application for a stay.

The two MPs risk losing their seats if found guilty to have held a dual citizenship at the time of filing for Election.

The Court of Appeal subsequently, dismissed the application for stay of execution with no award of cost. The Court further directed the applicant to apply to the Electoral Commission of Ghana for a copy of the statutory declaration she attached to her documents when she filed her nomination to contest the election.

Source: GhanaFeed.Com