Gyakye Quayson can go to prison for 10 years – Deputy Attorney General

James Gyakye Quayson, the incoming member of parliament for Assin North, is currently a defendant in a criminal case, according to deputy attorney general Alfred Tuah-Yeboah. He is expected to be sentenced to 10 years in jail.

However, Tuah-Yeboah, who is the lead prosecutor in Quayson’s case, said he is unsure whether Quayson will go to jail.

He clarified that it was feasible for the judge to acquit the defendant or to sentence him to a shorter term if he were proven guilty.

“Even though I’m the case’s lead prosecutor, I can’t guarantee with certainty that Gyakye Quayson will do time in prison. However, everyone wants to succeed in court, so I’m hoping that Gyakye Quayson will be found guilty. That’s what I want, but his attorneys also hope he is not found guilty. A criminal case has never been settled in court; instead, it has always been either the state wins or loses.

If he were to be found guilty, the judge—who is compensated by Ghanaians—rather than the prosecution would decide on his punishment. There is little I can do if the court rules that he is guilty and must either pay a fine, sign a bond, or serve time in jail.

He is most likely to spend 10 years in prison due to the perjury charge he is facing, according to the country’s statutes. Nothing prohibits the judge from deciding that he should spend one day in jail, either, he remarked in Twi during an interview with Ark FM on July 2, 2023.

James Gyakye Quayson, the MP-elect for Assin North, is scheduled to begin his trial today at the High Court in Accra.

Due to the lack of the required application paperwork for a stay of proceedings in the criminal trial of the recently elected Member of Parliament, the trial was postponed on June 29.

The incomplete application was the basis for the adjournment, according to Justice Mary Yanzuh, the trial judge.

This happened after Mr. Quayson appealed the daily trial order that Justice Mary Yanzuh had given to the Court of Appeal.

The defense team for Quayson has contended that the trial judge committed a number of legal mistakes that went against his right to a fair trial.

The Supreme Court had earlier declared Mr. Quayson’s election as the MP for Assin North invalid because, at the time he submitted his nomination to run in the 2020 elections, he was both a citizen of Ghana and Canada. He is now accused of perjury and misleading a public official as a result.

In the lead-up to the 2020 Assin North parliamentary election, he is being accused of forgery and perjury about a number of alleged offenses.

He has entered a not guilty plea to five counts of forging a passport or travel document, making a false statutory declaration intentionally, lying under oath, and making a false declaration of office.

Source: Mynewsghana.com