A Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante, has predicted a win for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the impending Assin North by-election.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, he said although the strength of the two main parties – NPP and NDC are at par, the fact that the NDC's James Gyakye Quayson won the seat in 2020 puts the party ahead.

He also believes the controversy surrounding Gyakye Quayson's subsequent exit may favour the party.

Although the Electoral Commission is yet to announce a date for the by-election, Mr Asah-Asante believes the NDC's decision to use the same candidate puts them slightly above.

"The NDC stands a little chance higher than the NPP even though I have not gone to the field to pick any data. But from analysis and data that is available, I can say this.”

He said although the incumbent party will put in their all and give the NDC a good run for its money, but the NDC stands a better chance.

“…If you look at the last election, the fact that Gyakye Quayson won the election, it is going to change the dynamics.

“For instance, we are looking at issues of the economy – it is a critical factor they [electorates] are going to consider …Again, his issue tied to that, we realise that he won as a strong candidate had it not been the case, they would have had their candidate in Parliament…,” he said.

Speaking on the same show, a Deputy National Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, said the party is ready to contest in the upcoming Assin North by-election.

He said preparations were already in place for campaigning and other activities right after the Supreme Court order that led to the expunging of Mr James Gyakye Quayson’s name from parliament's records.

https://www.myjoyonline.com/expunge-james-gyakye-quaysons-name-from-your-records-supreme-court-to-parliament/

“We in the NDC are prepared for this election. We began our preparation even as we were in Kumawu. We will do our review meetings and we will take over Assin North. We knew that we would go into a by-election and so the party has already put processes in place,” he said.

https://www.myjoyonline.com/parliament-writes-to-ec-declares-assin-north-seat-vacant/

“There was a vigil held recently and subsequently there are other activities that will start tomorrow [May 31] to canvass and further reinforce our relationship with the constituency,” Mr Gbande added.

He added that the party is confident that Gyakye Qyason is ready and will emerge victorious in the by-election to retain the Assin North seat.

The Assin North Constituency was created in 2012 when then Assin Central Constituency was split into two as Assin North and Assin Central. It was held by the NDC in 2012, taken by the NPP in 2016 and won by the NDC in 2020 again.

In the 2020 parliamentary election for instance, the votes margin between the NDC and the NPP was 3,305. This was in spite of the fact that Nana Akufo-Addo won the presidential.

A by-election in Assin North has become necessary after parliament wrote to the Electoral Commission declaring the seat vacant.

This followed the Supreme Court ruling that the Electoral Commission acted unconstitutionally in allowing Mr Quayson to contest the 2020 parliamentary elections without proof of him renouncing his Canadian Citizenship.

The apex court in their ruling ordered parliament to expunge James Gyakye Quayson from its records as a Member of Parliament. The court in a unanimous decision ruled that Mr. Quayson was not qualified at the time of filing his nomination forms.

It further held that the EC allowing him to contest when he had not shown evidence of renunciation of his citizenship of Canada is unconstitutional. It went ahead to declare that his election was unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect. His swearing-in was equally declared to be unconstitutional

The dual citizenship case was filed by a resident of the constituency, Michael Ankomah Nimfah. Mr Quayson had initially lost the case at the Cape Coast High Court in 2021.

The Cape Coast High Court had cancelled the parliamentary results for the Assin North constituency in the 2020 parliamentary election in the constituency.

The court, presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye, ordered a new election to be conducted in the constituency.

However, Mr Quayson sought an appeal at the Supreme Court where the High court's ruling was upheld.