Former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Nii Ayikoi Otoo, has advised the government to discontinue the criminal case involving James Gyakye Quayson, Member of Parliament-elect for Assin North.
Otto, a former ambassador to Canada, stressed that it was politically prudent to enter a nolle prosequi in the case because the New Patriotic Party (NPP) needs to look at the wider public sentiment and how the people of Assin North will react to its continuation.
He was, however, quick to add that the Attorney-General on his own volition does not have the capacity to take the decision except if the cabinet so agrees.
“It will be a good thing to enter a nolle prosequi and stop all this to show more maturity but you cannot as an Attorney-General do it on your own, you are not independent, you are part of a whole.
“The Attorney-General is bound by cabinet decision and cabinet secrecy even if he disagrees, once it has been taken, you are bound,” he said on EyeWitness News on Citi FM (July 3).
“So, if you ask me, what I will tell you is that there is the need for some negotiation, a broader conversation on the matter,” he stressed.
The former A-G was speaking in reaction to recent comments by the Dormaahene that the state should discontinue the Gyakye Quayson trial in an Accra High Court, which comment attracted a swift rebuttal from A-G Godfred Yeboah Dame.
James Quayson had pleaded not guilty to five charges of the deceit of the public officer, forgery of passport or travel certificates, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury and false declaration for office.
The charges relate to his participation in the 2020 polls at a time he supposedly held dual citizenship.
The Accra High Court ordered a daily trial, which ruling has been challenged by his lawyers in the Court of Appeal.
