I was removed from parliament because of E-levy – Gyakye Quayson

According to him, the government only started challenging his legitimacy as an MP when it realised it would not have the numbers to pass the E-Levey bill if he were present in the house.

Speaking to some residents of Assin North, Quayson said that the very day he had to appear in court was the day the E-levy bill was tabled and passed in parliament.

He added that because of the mischievousness of the government, its implementation of the E-levy is not going well at all.

“They took me to court on the very day we were debating the passage of the E-Levy. I was forced to go because I did not want to be charged with contempt of court.

“As soon as I went to the court, they brought the bill for the E-levy, and it was passed that very day. But God does not like wickedness, they are now not getting anything from the E-levy.

“How can you tax poor people who are sending the little money they have gotten to their children in school? You (the government) don’t even use the money judiciously,” he said in Twi.

Gyakye Quayson insisted that he was unjustly removed from the Parliament of Ghana and urged Assin North residents to reaffirm their trust in him by voting for him again in the upcoming by-election.

Background:

The Supreme Court of Ghana, on May 17, 2023, ordered the Parliament of Ghana to expunge the name of James Gyakye Quayson as a Member of Parliament (MP)

The apex court of the land ruled that Quayson was not qualified at the time he contested the election in 2020 in the Michael Ankomah Nimfah vs. James Gyakye Quayson case.

According to the court, the ousted Assin North MP failed to prove that he had renounced his Canadian citizenship when he filed his nomination to contest the 2020 general elections.

Parliament subsequently declared the Assin North seat vacant, leading to the Electoral Commission of Ghana announcing a by-election on May 27, 2023, to fill the seat.