Assin North Member of Parliament (MP), James Gyakye Quayson, has declared his days of pain and sorrow are over.
According to him, he used to get very emotional and in tears anytime he mounted a podium to address constituents ahead of the June 27 bye-election.
This, he explained, was as a result of his ongoing trial which was affecting the Assin North constituency.
However, his victory has strengthened him to withstand all the odds that may arise in his political career.
Mr Quayson made these remarks while addressing Assin North constituents during a thanksgiving service to mark his re-election on Sunday.
“From 2020 till the day we held the elections, many of you realised I get emotion whenever I stood in front of you to speak and it was because I was worried about what my people were going through.
“God has blessed us and has been grateful. I, James Gyason will not cry again because you have made me, Assin North, Ghana and Africa victorious,” he said amidst loud cheers from the people present.
In a bye-election held on June 27, 2023, Mr Quayson beat the NPP’s Charles Opoku to retain the seat for the NDC.
He had 57.56% of all votes cast while Charles Opoku got 42.155 of votes cast. The Liberal Party of Ghana’s Bernice Sefenu got 0.29%.
The exercise was necessitated by a Supreme Court ruling that the Electoral Commission (EC) acted unconstitutionally in allowing Mr Quayson to contest the 2020 parliamentary election without proof of him renouncing his Canadian Citizenship.
The apex court, therefore, ordered parliament to expunge Mr Quayson’s name from its records as a Member of Parliament as his election and swearing-in were unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on the back of this declared the seat vacant with the EC directed to hold a fresh election.
Meanwhile, Mr Quayson is still facing charges of perjury and forgery bothering on whether he had renounced his Canadian citizenship at the time he filed his nomination forms to contest the 2020 polls.
There are currently calls for the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, to discontinue the case.
ALSO READ: