Member of Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, says the Attorney General ought to drop the perjury charge against Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson.

According to him, Gyakye Quayson’s alleged perjury was committed without ill intent when he was filing his nomination forms ahead of the 2020 general elections.

His argument is in support of an earlier argument made by CDD Fellow, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare on PM Express, who argued that prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the James Gyakye Quayson case, the phrase on allegiance was vague and ambiguous.

He stated that thus, any answer given in response to an ambiguous statement as James Quayson had done was not perjurious.

“Evans, if a question is ambiguous as the Supreme Court has stated then an answer to that ambiguous question can never be perjurious. You cannot perjure yourself when you’ve answered a question that is ambiguous. Because what the court is saying is the government understood the phrase differently from the person who was responding. So then what is the basis for continuing with the criminal prosecution?” he said.

Adding to the Professor’s statement, Mr. Dafeamekpor said following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the matter, the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, should have gone back to court to amend or withdraw his perjury charge against the Asssin North MP.

He argues that the perjury charge as at now holds no water and will fall flat in court.

“At the time he was filling the form he had no mala fide, he had no malice aforethought. He says that when you asked the question and he answered no, he did so with the intent that he owed no allegiance to neither Canada or to any other country.

“Now the standard of proof in a criminal matter is much much higher than in a civil matter. So that’s why I’m so worried that even with the decision of the court in the civil matter, I am surprised that the Attorney General hasn’t gone back to court to amend, to vary, to withdraw his charges and to perhaps proceed on a charge that he thinks he can succeed.

“But he’s still proceeding in such a manner that he thinks that even a charge of perjury can be made out. As we speak the charge in respect of perjury will fall flat,” he said.