Gyakye Quayson freed, acquitted of perjury and forgery charges

An Accra High Court has acquitted the Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, of charges of perjury and forgery.

The lawmaker was charged with forgery and perjury in connection with alleged offences related to his parliamentary election in the 2020 elections.

The charges included forgery of a passport or travel certificate, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and false declaration for office.

The prosecution accused him of making a false statement to the Passport Office, claiming that he did not hold a passport from any other country when applying for a Ghanaian passport.

He was also said to have made a false declaration to the Electoral Commission (EC), stating that he did not owe allegiance to any foreign country when filing to contest the Assin North parliamentary seat.

However, in a ruling delivered on Wednesday, April 9, Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh upheld a submission of no case filed by the MP’s lawyer, Tsatsu Tsikata.

The judge further ruled that the MP did not make false declarations on his nomination forms for the 2020 elections.

At the time he declared that he owed allegiance to no other country besides Ghana, the judge said he had already submitted an application for renunciation of his Canadian citizenship.