Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan, incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso West Wuogon in the Greater Accra Region, is confident of retaining the seat in the December elections to continue her good works.
She said her performance over the last four years had transformed the living conditions of her constituents and therefore is sure of receiving massive endorsement from her constituents come December 7.
The MP has instituted a scholarship scheme, which had benefited over 1,000 students in the constituency as well as a project that has empowered women to start small-scale businesses and trading activities.
Speaking with the Ghana News Agency Gender-desk at one of her political campaigns, the MP who is also the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, expressed satisfaction in her performance so far and appealed to the voters to retain her.
“I have fulfilled most of my campaign promises in 2020 and I’m proud of what I have done so far. My appeal to the electorate is to give me their support again to do more,” she said.
Madam Alhassan is one of the 40 women who are serving in the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic and one of the 29 female MPs across the country seeking re-election.
She is also the third female MP for the constituency following Mrs Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, the Chief of Staff who occupied the seat in 2004 and 2008 and Madam Rebecca Akweley Addotey of the NDC in 1996.
Upon the sudden death of her husband in 2019, late Mr Emmanuel Boakye-Agyarko, then MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Madam Alhassan stepped into the political light to represent the NPP in the by-election and garnered 12,041 votes representing 68.80 per cent of the total valid votes cast as against the NDC candidate who polled 5,341 votes, representing 30.52 per cent.
She won the NPP parliamentary candidature for the 2020 elections and went ahead to annex the seat for the NPP in a keen contest, polling 39,851 (51.36 per cent) votes to defeat her closest contender, Mr John Dumelo of the NDC who also polled 37,478 votes (48.30 per cent).
Madam Alhassan holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Ghana Business School and a Bachelor of Administration degree from GIMPA and ventured into the pharmaceutical industry long before she came to the political limelight.
At just 24, she founded Lymens Medical Supplies Limited, a wholesale pharmaceutical company that became one of the leading medical suppliers in the country and subsequently became the vice-chairperson of the Pharmaceutical Importers and Wholesalers Association and an executive of the Chamber of Commerce.
From 2005 to 2016, she also served as the President of the Accra Premier Lions Club, underscoring her commitment to service.
The MPs dedication to her career had been acknowledged as she has received a Ghana Pharm Award as ‘Woman of Excellence’ in 2017 and was named Personality of the Year in 2021, honouring her contributions to both the health sector and national development.
In Parliament, she served on several parliamentary committees, including Health, Mines and Energy and Business and currently serves on the board of the Minerals Commission of Ghana.
GNA