Former President John Dramani Mahama has criticised the ruling of the High Court that the criminal case against the ousted Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, should be heard daily.
According to the former president, the ruling of the court is absurd because not even murderers are prosecuted at this pace.
Mahama, who made these remarks at a community durbar at Sienkyem in Assin North on June 18, 2023, added that not even the prosecution of the former boss of MenzGold, Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1), who is accused of swindling Ghanaians, is done at this pace.
“Because of the hatred for him (Gyakye Quayson), they have also taken him to court and they are saying that they are going to jail him.
“Now the court is saying that he should come to court every day. Not even criminals who have committed murder are treated this way. Murders are not told to come to court every day for their case to be heard.
“NAM1’s case has been in court for almost 3 three years. This case is not even heard on a daily basis. What has Gyakye done to you? Has he killed someone? Has he stolen someone’s money?” he asked in Twi.
The former president added that even if Quayson is detained by the court, he will still win the by-election which would be held on June 27, 2023.
“They can get him a mat at the court for him to sleep there. Even if he is not present on the day of the by-election, he will still win,” Mahama said.
The High Court in Accra, on Friday (June 18, 2023), 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.
This was after the presiding judge, Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, turned down an application for the trial to be adjourned till after 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.