Sammy Gyamfi responds to Supreme Court's ruling on Assin North case

He highlights the fact that the court based its annulment of Gyakye Quayson’s election solely on the timing of his submission of the nomination form and his receipt of the certificate of renunciation of Canadian citizenship.

Gyamfi also questions the court’s stance that qualification should be determined at the time of nomination rather than the election.

Furthermore, Gyamfi reminds the Supreme Court of its own decision in the Nduom case, where it acknowledged that the nomination period should extend beyond the submission of forms, allowing candidates a chance to rectify any anomalies during the scrutiny process.

In May 2023, the Supreme Court ordered the removal of James Gyakye Quayson’s name as the Member of Parliament for Assin North.

Strangely, the Supreme Court of Ghana in their judgment says that, qualification must be at the time of NOMINATION (i.e at the time a candidate files or submits his/her nomination form to the EC).

Gyakye Quayson’s election is solely based on the fact that, at the time he submitted his nomination form to the EC on 9th October, 2020, he had not received his certificate of renunciation of his Canadian citizenship and that he received same on 26th November, 2020.

Even if we are to go by this strange position of the Supreme Court that qualification must be at the time of NOMINATION and not ELECTION, it is important to remind the Supreme Court that in the Nduom case, they held in effect, that the nomination period for an election, must extend beyond the submission of nomination forms and must include the period the EC uses to scrutinize submitted results, within which the EC is supposed to give candidates a hearing and an opportunity to rectify any anomalies on their nomination form.