Mr Richard Takyi-Mensah, the first prosecution witness in the trial involving Mr James Gyakye Quayson, the Member of Parliament for Assin North, told the Court that the Electoral Commission had cleared the accused to stand for the election.

The witness said per what he read, the EC had invited the complainant and the accused into a meeting and based on what the accused person told the Commission, it (Commission) cleared him.

In a cross-examination of the witness by Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, counsel for the accused, the witness said he had read the report on the internet and also as stated earlier, some of the processes filed in the civil case were served the petitioner through him, hence he saw and read the documents.

Mr Tsikata suggested to the witness that his statement was given in Twi, which was translated to English Language, but the witness disagreed, saying, he narrated everything to the Police in English Language.

“Maybe in the course of the narration, it could have been inadvertently switched to the local language,” he stated.  

Before the cross-examination of the witness, the Court again dismissed a motion filed by the MP to halt the trial pending application filed at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

The Court presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh told the parties that there was no order from the Supreme Court restraining the court from continuing with the trial for the determination of the appeal brought before it.

The Court said the hearing would proceed and, therefore, called the first witness for further cross-examination.

Following the refusal of the motion for a Stay of Proceedings pending appeal on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, Mr Tsikata told the Court that he had repeated the motion at the Court of Appeal scheduled for July 19.

The Court, therefore, adjourned the trial to Wednesday, July 19, 2023, for the continuation of the cross-examination.  

Initially, the Supreme Court nullified Quayson’s election as the Member of Parliament for Assin North for holding Canadian citizenship alongside being a Ghanaian at the time he filed his nomination to contest the election in 2020.

But he was reelected in a by-election.

He now faces charges of perjury and deceiving a public officer at the High Court.