President Akufo-Addo has said James Gyakye Quayson is a candidate for prison urging Assin North electorates to reject him on Tuesday, asking if Quayson can work as MP from jail.

The President was speaking at the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s final rally ahead of the by-election scheduled for Tuesday, June 27. 

The President urged voters in Assin North to endorse the NPP’s candidate, Charles Opoku. 

“We should not support or vote for individuals who are entangled in legal controversies that may eventually lead them to face imprisonment,” he said.

“We need someone who can come and help you. Someone who will work in your interest. I heard Gyakye Quayson say that even in prison, you people will vote for him, can he work from jail?” He asked. 

“We vote for people to go to Parliament to work, how can he work from prison? So don’t vote for someone who will end up in jail, vote for someone who can work to improve your lives,” President Akufo-Addo said. 

The President also drew in Adamu Sakande.

“That Ghanaians easily forget and that is why he (John Mahama) said that. What happened to Adamu Dramani Sakande during his presidency, he seems to have forgotten. It is the exact same thing that has befallen Quayson.

“Was it politics that led to Sakande’s jailing during his presidency? Why is he relating it to that now, let us be truthful, we should be truthful, people should stop lying to people in the villages. 

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission says it is prepared for the Assin North by-election on Tuesday, June 27.

Following a Supreme Court ruling that ousted former MP James Gyakye Quayson as an elected member of parliament, the Assin North seat became vacant.

The court held that his election was null and void because, at the time, he filed to contest, he owed allegiance to another country contrary to Ghanaian laws. Nonetheless, the NDC has backed the ousted MP to contest again despite an ongoing criminal trial.