Discontinuing case against Gyakye Quayson will amount to discrimination, picking and choosing – Kpemka

Lawyer and former Member of Parliament (MP) for Tempane Joseph Kpemka has rejected calls for the discontinuation of the criminal trial of the MP for Assin North James Gyakye Quayson, saying that not allowing the case to travel its full course will amount to discrimination.

Mr. Kpemka, also a former Deputy-Attorney General and Minister of Justice, maintained that the law must be applied to everyone non-discriminately, insisting that if Ghanaians find a law no longer useful, that law can be removed. But once the law remains in the books, it must be respected.

“The question is why do we treat this case in isolation of all other cases and as others have argued? Won’t it be a discrimination? Because our constitution is very clear that all of us should be treated equally, no matter the background, the ethnic affiliation, whatever it is…You remember that the late Adamu Dramani Sakandie faced a similar situation. He was prosecuted for false declaration, perjury, et cetera. And he was convicted. So is it the case that we should pick and choose which one to treat in what way or we should treat all cases equally?” he quizzed on Bolgatanga-based Dreamz FM recently.

He called on Ghanaians to consistently analyze issues and avoid making comments that serve only their personal or parochial interests, adding that unhelpful laws ought to be expunged but not applied selectively.

“As a nation, I will call on all of us to speak in one accord and with one voice. We should not approbate and reprobate. We should not pick and choose. Whenever it’s in our favour, it should go a certain way. But when it’s not in our favour, to hell! We should be consistent…If we think as a people that a particular law which we have made to govern us has become an albatross and it is not serving the purpose but it is rather a draconian way of dealing with the situation and therefore, absolutely unnecessary, the best to do is legislate to make sure such things are taken off the books. But so long as they remain there, you have to exercise them,” he said.

James Gyakye Quayson is being prosecuted for alleged perjury with respect to the renunciation of his Canadian citizenship.