Injuncted Assin North MP-elect, James Gyakye Quayson has been prevented from voting for the Speaker of Parliament nominees for the 8th Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
The embattled MP-elect was spotted in the House after the dissolution of the 7th Parliament for the on Thursday, for his inauguration despite an injunction by the Cape Coast High Court for him not to hold himself as such.
The House was engaged in a raucous state to decided his fate after Effutu MP, Alexander Afenyo Markin brought the issue up.
The Clerk, Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah said, “I was duly served, and I am therefore unable to recognize James Quayson as MP-elect for the purposes of the election of Speaker. I will therefore accordingly proceed in the conduct of this election”, the Clerk stated during the inauguration of the 8th Parliament.
But the National Democratic Congress (NDC) side of the House, on whose ticket Mr Quayson contested the election, said it was not in the place of the Clerk, Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, who serves as Chair until a Speaker is elected, to serve the MP-elect in Parliament.
Haruna Iddrisu who leads the NDC MPs argued that Mr Gyakye Quayson is yet to be served with the injunction order and so nothing bars him from going ahead to represent his constituents.
The Cape Coast High court granted an injunction suit against, James Gyakye Quayson ruling that he cannot hold himself as the MP-elect for the constituency.
A petition was filed by one Michael Ankomah that the MP-elect still held on to his Canadian citizenship when he was filing to contest in the December polls.
According to the petitioner, Mr. Quayson owes allegiance to both Ghana and Canada which contravenes the provision of Article 94 (2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
He, therefore, urged the court to declare Mr Quayson’s position as MP-elect null and void.
But Mr Gyakye Quayson was in Parliament for his swearing-in.
He joined the NDC MPs to take the Majority side in parliament removing the names of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs-elect from the chairs and taking their seats.
The proposed Deputy Majority Leader for the NPP side inquired from Mr Kwabena Oteng Nsiah if Parliament has the court document so action is taken before the voting for nominees starts.
He said the House does not want to engage in any illegality since the court injunction is being flouted by the MP-elect.
On his part, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is leading the NPP side, said, “The issue raised by my colleague, the Effutu MP is very genuine. He wants to know the eligibility and qualification of the MPs-elect who are qualified for voting.
“This house has been duly served, injuncting one person from participating in the business, We are aware that the processes have been served to the house. We want to know as part of our preliminary observation whether it is true, and if it’s true, that person cannot participate properly before this house”, he clarified.