The Member of Parliament for Kumbungu constituency, Ras Mubarak says they will not recognise newly sworn in MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency until perpetrators of the violence that marred the by-election are dealt with.

The Minority in Parliament on Tuesday staged a walk out moments before the swearing into Parliament of the new MP in protest against what they described as state-sponsored violence during the by-election.

Ras Mubarak speaking to the issue does not see why the minority should ‘celebrate’ in her swearing in when she is a product of an election which led to the injury of some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC).

“The NDC as a political party is always excited to have women in positions of responsibilities but in this instance, she is a beneficiary of a system that is flawed, that has been condemned largely. Ordinary Ghanaians were terrorised by these gun-wielding, gun-toting hoodlums. Ordinary voters were intimidated; a lot of people had stayed home because of the monumental level of violence and to think that a sitting member of parliament was assaulted, makes it worse and as a political party that is formed on a lot of principles, we cannot and should not be seen as endorsing an illegality…the election was characterised by violence and we don’t see how we should celebrate that candidate; we cannot endorse her…and the avenue available to us within the confines of our laws was simply to disregard the swearing in to give an indication that we will not be part of it,” he said in an interview on Citi Eyewitness news.

By-Election

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.

The by-election was however marred with violence which occurred at the Bawaleshie electoral area.