The newly elected Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Hon Lydia Seyram Alhassan, was sworn into Parliament Tuesday, by taking the Oaths of Allegiance and Member of Parliament administered by the First Deputy Speaker, Hon Joseph Osei Owusu.
The Minority in Parliament, however, staged a walkout of Parliament moments before the swearing into Parliament of the new MP in protest against what they (the Minority) described as state-sponsored violence during the by-election at Ayawaso West Wuogon.
Hon Mubaraka Muntaka, Minority Chief Whip and MP for Asawase, spoke on behalf of the Minority who carried placards into the chamber with the inscription "bloody widow".
Some members of Parliament such as Hon Sarah Adjoa Safo, Deputy Majority Leader and MP for Dome/ Kwabenya welcomed Hon Lydia Seyram Alhassan into the House and urged her to work hard to meet the aspirations of her constituents.
She was happy that the victory of Hon Lydia Seyram Alhassan has increased the number of the female MPs from 37 to 38.
Commenting on the timing of the walkout by the Minority, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon Joseph Osei Owusu, noted the Minority has set a precedent to which reference will be made in future.
By-Election Result
Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan replaced her husband as the Member of Parliament for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency after winning the by-election held on Thursday, 31st January 2019 in Accra.
Madam Alhassan, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, was the second wife of the late MP Mr Emmanuel Kyeremateng Agyarko.
She polled 68.80 per cent of the valid votes cast.
Her closest challenger, Mr Kwasi Delali Brempong of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) polled 30.52 per cent while Mr William Kofi Dowokpor of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and Mr Clement Boadi of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) polled 0.58 and 0.10 per cent respectively.
Shooting Incident
The conduct of the polls was marred by a shooting incident at the residence of one of the aspirants, Mr Brempong; which resulted in injuries to 18 persons and an assault on an observer at one of the polling stations.
The Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service have commenced investigations into the shooting incident.
Source: Emmanuel Akorli/Peace Fm/Parliamentary Correspondent
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