James Gyakye Quayson

James Gyakye Quayson is a Ghanaian politician of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Member of Parliament for Assin North in the Central Region. Born on 9 October 1952, he is the oldest member of the 9th Parliament. His first election, in 2020, led to one of the best-known constitutional cases in Ghana's recent history, over his Canadian citizenship.

Early life and education

He comes from Assin Bereku in the Central Region and finished secondary school at Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast in 1969. He then moved to Toronto, where he earned two bachelor's degrees at York University, in social sciences and in general arts, majoring in political science and sociology, and later a master's degree in urban planning and community development.

Career in Canada

He worked in social services and community development in Toronto, rising to district manager in the City of Toronto's employment and social services department. He became a naturalised Canadian citizen, and later renounced that citizenship to stand for Parliament in Ghana.

The citizenship case

Quayson won Assin North for the NDC in December 2020 with 17,498 votes. A voter, Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, challenged the result on the ground that Article 94(2)(a) of the Constitution bars anyone who owes allegiance to another country from sitting in Parliament. The Cape Coast High Court declared the election void, and his appeal was dismissed. On 13 April 2022 the Supreme Court ordered him, by a 5-2 majority, to stop holding himself out as an MP.

On 17 May 2023 a unanimous seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, ruled that the Electoral Commission had acted unconstitutionally in accepting his nomination without proof that he had renounced his Canadian citizenship. Parliament declared the seat vacant on 29 May 2023.

By-election and re-election

He stood again in the Assin North by-election on 27 June 2023 and won with 17,245 votes, or 57.56 per cent, and was sworn in once more. In the December 2024 general election he held the seat with 18,023 votes (56.35 per cent) against the NPP's Charles Opoku. He has served on Parliament's House Committee and its Local Government and Rural Development Committee.