The Ayawaso West Wuogon MP and Minister-Designate for the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Lydia Seyram Alhassan, spoke about the 2019 by-elections for the first time during her vetting on Tuesday, March 5.
Lydia Alhassan described the event as “unfortunate” and underlined that she had no intention of using violence to win the election in response to questions.
“The incident that happened on 31st January 2019, is unfortunate. As a candidate [then], whose focus was to win the election, and support the voiceless and the under-privileged, and support my constituency, my intention of doing that was not to win through violence.”
She added that she was not at the scene when it happened and recalled the difficult treatment she had on her first day in parliament at the hands of the minority.
Alhassan emphasized the significance of removing violence during elections in order to promote Ghana’s democracy while also discussing the effect the incident had on her as a mother and a woman.
“As you are aware, I was nowhere near where the incident occurred. You all remember how I was received the first day I stepped foot into parliament. A woman who was in pain, grieving. I’m glad there is an opportunity to bring a closure to this matter and I would like to clear it off my chest.
“As you are all aware, I was nowhere near when the incident occurred but as a woman and as a mother, I was so touched by it, and I pray what happened on that day should never happen to any person trying to represent his/her people. It should never happen again in the history of our quest to lead this country in our democracy. Issue of violence should never happen in our elections ever again,” she advised.
