By Lawrence Odoom/Phalonzy
Marking one year since his acquittal on charges challenging his eligibility for the 2020 parliamentary elections, MP for Assin North James Gyakye Quayson has issued a piercing call for uncompromising fidelity to due process, warning that constitutional safeguards buckle when law yields to political expediency.
In a reflective statement released to commemorate the anniversary, Gyakye Quayson described the court’s verdict as more than personal exoneration.
“That verdict transcended personal vindication. It constituted a solemn reaffirmation of a foundational tenet of constitutional democracy: allegations must be subjected to the crucible of evidence, law, and due process not to conjecture, public pressure, or the currents of political expediency,” he stated.
The protracted legal battle, which captured national attention, has prompted what he termed
“sober reflection” on the architecture of Ghana’s legal order. The episode, he argued, exposed systemic vulnerabilities. “It laid bare the fragility of procedural safeguards when juridical questions are hastily adjudicated. It exposed the peril of reducing intricate constitutional questions to instruments of political convenience,” Gyakye Quayson observed.
Central to his critique was the handling of evidentiary standards in cases involving foreign law. He insisted the case crystallised a doctrine too often ignored: “Where issues of foreign law or status are invoked, they must be expressly pleaded and rigorously proven.
To proceed otherwise is to court error, breed inconsistency, and sanction injustice.”
While expressing gratitude to judicial institutions and citizens who demanded fairness, Gyakye Quayson cautioned against institutional complacency.
“I remain profoundly indebted to the institutions that ultimately vindicated the rule of law, and to the countless Ghanaians who stood unflinching in their demand that fairness prevail. Yet gratitude must not metastasize into complacency,” he said.
He urged that the jurisprudence from his case now serve as a disciplinary framework for all arms of justice administration.
“The jurisprudence of this episode must now inform and discipline the conduct of investigators, prosecutors, adjudicators, and public officials alike,” he noted, adding that “a polity truly devoted to justice does not merely rectify its missteps; it internalizes them as doctrine.”
Looking forward, Gyakye Quayson called for a fortified national commitment to legal discipline. “My aspiration is unambiguous: that we fortify our collective allegiance to due process, constitutional fidelity, and the exacting, disciplined application of law. These are not abstractions. They are the bulwarks that shield every citizen.”
He concluded with a principle he termed non-negotiable: “The rule of law must remain our anchor, especially when fidelity to it proves most inconvenient.”