Tradition rulers of Assin in the Central Region yesterday urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to discontinue the trial against the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North constituency, James Gyakye Quayson.

They said once the people of Assin had decided to elect Mr Quayson to represent them in Parliament, his trial should be truncated to allow peace and unity to prevail.

“Whenever there is a vacant seat, we all struggle to take over but once an election is over, it is time we came together as one people to foster unity and peace since we are one people,” they said.

Unity

Speaking on behalf of the traditional leaders from Assin at a press conference in Parliament yesterday, the Queenmother of Assin Breku, Nana Hemaa Afia Ntiamoah, said, “We need unity now to ensure peaceful governance of this country.

“If we allow this trial to continue, the people of Assin North Constituency stand to gain nothing.

We have already elected Mr Quayson and every trial against him should be stopped,” she said.

The traditional leaders had showed up in their numbers in Parliament yesterday to show their solidarity with the MP-elect, Mr Quayson, who was sworn in by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.

Nana Afia Ntiamoah said as the father of the nation, President Akufo-Addo should show the way forward in how Ghanaians could live in peace as one people instead of being at loggerheads.

“We must stop the backbiting because any country that is faced with misunderstanding does not witness meaningful development but only violence and chaos.

“We, therefore, beg the President to initiate steps that will help our MP to perform his legislative role without any distractions,” she appealed. 

Love

Adding his voice to the appeal, the Assin Breku Kyedomhene, Nana Frimpong Baah I, said the manner in which the people of Assin North cast their vote during the by-election showed that “they loved Gyakye Quayson.”

“If you look at the votes he got, it shows that the people just love and want him to be their MP.

“We, therefore, appeal to President Akufo-Addo to allow what has happened in the past to belong to the past to help us live together and support nation-building.

“If our friend Charles Opoku had won the election, we would have, in the same way, united and backed him to represent us in Parliament,” he said. 

Background

Mr Quayson is facing charges of forgery and perjury concerning certain alleged offences in the run-up to the 2020 Assin North parliamentary election and the case is being heard on a day-to-day basis by the High Court.

But he was maintained by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as its parliamentary candidate for the recently held Assin North by-election on June 27, 2023 and went ahead to win the election.

Mr Quayson was sworn in as the MP for Assin North by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, yesterday, after he won the by-election in that constituency with 17,245 votes, representing 57.56 per cent of the valid votes cast, with the New Patriotic Party(NPP) candidate, Charles Opoku, coming second with 12,630 votes, representing 42.15 per cent.

The Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) candidate, Sefenu Bernice Enyonam, got 87 votes, representing 0.29 per cent.

SOURCE: GraphicOnline