A deputy director of communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah Bonsu, has described as vandalistic and an irresponsible distortion of the ethos of politics a statement relating to the Assin North by-election issued by Sammy Gyamfi, the communications officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The statement sought to water down the content of an audio recording alleged to be from the daughter of James Gyakye Quayson, the former Assin North MP whose election was declared unconstitutional, null and void by the Supreme Court in May.
Sammy Gyamfi’s reaction
In his statement reacting to the alleged voice recording attributed to the daughter of Quayson, Sammy Gyamfi stated:
“We have sighted and listened to a certain desperate and maliciously contrived audio message being circulated by the New Patriotic Party, their agents, assigns and surrogates, which purports to be the voice of a daughter of NDC’s parliamentary candidate for the Assin North by-election, James Gyakye Quayson.
“The said audio recording which is coming from a faceless individual pretending to be a child of James Gyakye Quayson, contains vulgar and despicable swearwords we cannot repeat.
“We wish to state without any equivocation that the said audio is not coming from any child, relation or associate of James Gyakye Quayson, as it does not reflect the decency and nobility of James Gyakye Quayson or his immediate or extended family which holds all persons in high esteem and respects human dignity.
“Let it be stated here that the family of Gyakye Quayson has stood firmly and continues to stand with him in his quest to serve the people of Assin North and pursue the felt needs of the people, and never will they turn their back on this noble cause.
“The desperation of the New Patriotic Party in Assin North has reached fever pitch, having sensed imminent defeat in next Tuesday’s by-election. We therefore urge every discerning Ghanaian to disregard the said audio and to treat it with all the contempt it deserves.”
A by-election will take place in Assin North on Tuesday (27 June 2023) to choose a new MP following the Supreme Court ruling. The NDC chose Quayson, who was unopposed, to run again for the Central Region seat.
Laughable intervention
Ernest Owusu Bempah, writing in response to Gyamfi’s claims, said: “I have just sighted a statement under the hand of the national communications officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi.
“In the said statement, Sammy Gyamfi sought to water down the content of the very explosive audio from the daughter of Gyakye Quayson.
“Intriguingly, Gyakye Quayson’s daughter in a new audio is worried about how the NDC is leading her father on, even as the continuing criminal charges against him gathers momentum. She fears her father risks going to jail and, as such, she is berating and blaming the NDC for his misfortune.
“To the extent that Gyakye Quayson’s daughter went as far as calling the Assin North constituents villagers who are not worthy to be toiled for, [it] makes Sammy Gyamfi’s intervention laughable. In any case, what is Sammy Gyamfi talking about here? If he so feels the audio in circulation isn’t Quayson’s daughter, why is he pointing accusing fingers at the NPP?
“NDC leaders like Sammy Gyamfi don’t like being called propagandists and yet they won’t … stop churning out propaganda.
“Of course, we need to play the long game and it needs to be persistent and consistent. The likes of Sammy Gyamfi must know that his sort of attrition politics, spreading lies and pushing bigoted views and agendas isn’t fashionable any more.
“Surely Sammy Gyamfi’s desperate intervention is irrelevant here. Gyakye Quayson’s daughter has demonstrated that her family isn’t in support of his suicidal mission. That is what matters. On the other hand, the discerning Ghanaians and right-thinking members of the public know better. Sammy Gyamfi must bow down his head in shame.”
Background
James Gyakye Quayson is contesting the Assin North by-election on the ticket of the NDC after he was removed as an MP by reason of a Supreme Court judgment that declared his December 2020 election as the local MP null, void and of no legal effect.
Quayson, in spite of a high court judgment that declared his election unconstitutional, continued to hold himself as a Member of Parliament, attending sittings of the House and carrying out parliamentary duties.
Displeased with his actions, the petitioner in the high court action, Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, a resident of Assin North, filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking an order to injunct Quayson.
He also sought an interpretation of Article 94 (2a) of the 1992 constitution of the republic, which states that “a person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he – (a) owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana”.
The injunction by the Supreme Court will remain in force until the final determination of the application seeking interpretation of Article 94 (2a). The Cape Coast high court restrained Quayson from holding himself as the MP for Assin North on the NDC ticket.
On Wednesday 28 July 2021, Justice Kwasi Boakye also ordered that fresh parliamentary elections be held in the constituency. This followed a parliamentary election petition, brought to the high court in Cape Coast by Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, a private citizen, seeking to annul the MP’s election.
Quayson polled 17,498 votes, against 14,793 for the New Patriotic Party’s Abena Durowaa Mensah, in the 7 December 2020 parliamentary election.
On 30 December 2020, Michael Ankomah-Nimfah filed a parliamentary election petition at the Cape Coast high court, challenging Quayson’s eligibility to be an MP.
He argued that the MP was not eligible because, at the time Quayson filed his nomination to stand as a parliamentary candidate, he was still a citizen of Canada. The act of filing, he argued, was against the express provisions of Article 94 (2a) of the 1992 constitution and Section 9(2) of the Representation of the People Act 1992 (PNDCL 284).
Content by: Wilberforce Asare
