The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has clarified that the Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, is not an enemy of the Majority MPs.
The member of parliament for Suame re-echoed that though members of the Majority side may disagree on issues with the Minority, it doesn’t mean that Mr. Quayson is an enemy.
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs made these statements when the speaker of parliament asked for his comments after the swearing-in of the MP in Parliament on Tuesday, July 4, 2023.
“We welcome our colleague. He enters this House rightly or wrongly, but he cultivated friends while he stayed here. I’m not sure that anybody can say that Gyakye Quayson is an enemy to him. We may disagree on a few things, but I believe that across the political divide, he made so many friends. I believe the NDC wants to believe that the victory our colleague has chalked is a peak victory that will hurt the pride of the NPP, as the Minority Leader [Ato Forson] has alluded to. We must congratulate him.”
“On the other hand, we, the Majority also believe that it’s a momentary victory of a fantastic character. But that is the choice of the people of Assin North. And everybody must respect that whilst it lasts. The rest of it is in the hands of the Attorney General”.
He further debunked claims that Mr. Quayson’s case is selective justice.
“Mr. Speaker, I hear my colleague [Ato Forson] said some political party engaged in money sharing. I also witnessed some political party busy distributing machetes, insecticides and wellington boots. Be truthful to yourself and your conscience”.
“Nobody from his true conscience can say that his prosecution is selective justice. Let us all respect the Constitution. When people talk about selective justice, we wonder where they are coming from, examples abound in this House,” he stated.
He further stated that everyone should respect the decisions of voters of Assin North.
On the Minority side, their leader Cassiel Ato Forson argued that the citizens of Assin North have shown that politicians can not buy their votes with money.
He further said the president’s utterances before the election undermines judicial justice.
Going into the election, the Ghanaian president Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo said on one of the campaign platforms that the electorates of Assin North should not vote for someone who is bound to be jailed, which many critics have said is unfortunate for a renowned lawyer of the sort to have said that.
