A group called Professionals for Change (P4C) has called on the Minority Caucus in parliament to apologise to the Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Lydia Alhassan, for walking out during her swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, 5 January 2019 and also describing her as a “bloody widow”.
The group said in a statement that the behaviour of the Minority Caucus is “cold-hearted” and “heartless”, considering the fact that the new lawmaker is a widow.
The Minority MPs said they boycotted Ms Alhassan’s investiture because they did not want to give credence to her victory in the by-election on Thursday, 31 January 2019, which was characterised by violence.
Heavily-armed National Security operatives shot and wounded supporters of the opposition National Democratic Congress at the private residence of the party’s candidate about an hour into the by-election.
In a statement, the Minority said: “We have staged a walkout in order not to give credence or legitimacy to that bloody election and her subsequent so-called swearing in.
“It is our sincere view that the memory of our departed colleague does not deserve this sort of bloody legacy even if Madam Lydia Alhassan and her collaborators think otherwise.”
Before staging the walkout, the Minority MPs brandished placards on the floor of the house, some of which read: “Bloody widow”.
Professionals for Change has condemned the Minority’s action.
In a statement, the group quizzed: “Where is their humanity? For political reasons, the NDC MPs chose to throw away one of our societal norms of according a widow, respect and went ahead to describe her in such an unpalatable manner. This is the height of insensitivity on the part of the Minority! This is heartless, to say the least.”
“We demand an unqualified apology from the Minority to Honourable Lydia Seyram Alhassan. Going by their own logic, B.T. Baba, the MP for Talensi, should also not have been recognised because his election was characterised by terrible acts of violence and mayhem which resulted in fatal injuries to innocent voters.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
