Full Text of Minority Statement on the Swearing in of the Member Elect for Assin North
Thank you for the opportunity to congratulate our colleague, Hon James Gyakye Quayson on his victory and to welcome him back to the House where he rightly belongs. His success in the by-election represents a victory for our democracy and a clear evidence of the savviness of the Ghanaian electorate.
The Assin North constituency witnessed a sudden outburst of new, unplanned and unbudgeted projects including the distribution of money amid a major economic crisis of our lifetime, all to influence voters immediately Hon Quayson’s election was declared null and void by the Supreme Court.
The good people of Assin North, however, demonstrated that their mandate cannot be bought by virtual projects and cash.
Mr Speaker, on the 7th December 2020, the people of Assin North expressed their mandate freely and elected Mr Gyakye Quayson to represent them in the House.
Sadly, from 6th January 2021, every effort has been made by proxies of Government to prevent Mr Quayson from representing his people including injuncting him from functioning as a Member of Parliament for over a year until the Supreme Court finally made its pronouncement.
Mr Speaker, when these machinations by proxies of the Government failed to break the resolve of Mr Quayson, the Government then took up the challenge frontally, and instituted criminal charges against him with the Attorney-General urging the High Court to hear the matter on a daily basis, all to prevent Mr Quayson from campaigning for re-election.
The President even went further by calling on voters not to vote for Mr Quayson because he was jail bound. The President was certain and categorical when he said, “don’t vote for someone who will end up in jail”.
Mr. Speaker, this singular categorical statement from H.E the President is not only prejudicial but also a threat to fair trial and justice and therefore undermines our judicial system which is the anchor of our democracy.
But Mr Speaker, all these machinations did not deter nor weaken Mr Quayson’s resolve. He continued to serve his people and they believed in his vision.
It was therefore not surprising that the good people of Assin North reaffirmed their confidence in him at the just ended by-election on 27th June 2023 with a wider margin. They voted massively for him and he obtained a whopping 57.56% of the valid votes cast.
Mr Speaker, the people of Assin North have sent a clear message to all politicians particularly the Government of the day that they cannot be hoodwinked by the sharing of money nor be intimidated by threats; it is the same message that Ghanaians are sending, that in 2024 they will exercise their franchise based on their conscience and no amount of tricks nor threats will dissuade them from voting out the current administration.
Ghanaians are appalled by the abysmal economic mismanagement, poor governance and increasing level of corruption, leading to unprecedented economic hardships being experienced by the people.
Mr Speaker, the time has come for us, as politicians and the political class, to have a rethink about the worsening monetization of our elections and its negative implications for our democracy.
Mr Speaker, I must commend Hon Quayson for his courage and resilient spirit; he has prevailed in the face of persecution. I am aware that he is due to appear in court this morning to defend the trumped-up charges against him.
My message to him is to take solace in the good book in Deuteronomy 31:6 which says that “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of THEM, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you”.
Mr Speaker, I wish to serve notice that the entire Minority Group in Parliament will accompany our colleague to court today and any other day that he is to appear in Court.
We are solidarising with our colleague and will not participate in the business of the House anytime our colleague is in court. We are therefore withdrawing from the Chamber after this to accompany our colleague to the Court.
Mr Speaker, amid persecution, cooperation will certainly suffer. A word to the wise is in ‘Assin North’.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
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