The Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Lydia Seyram Alhassan, has responded to criticism following a video that showed her and her constituency’s women’s organizer distributing food to voters during the Special Voting exercise on Monday, December 2, 2024.

The incident, recorded at the Legon Police Station polling center, has raised questions about electoral ethics and voter influence, as the MP was seen providing food packages to individuals in the voting queue.

“I thought that there were some people who would need food after I have served my people, and so I decided to give it [the food] to them [the people in queue]. Did you see me giving out food to the people in the queue? The lady with me received a request for water, and in her attempt to give it to the person who requested it, she ended up giving it to two other people who also needed water.”Her political opponent, John Dumelo, and other critics questioned whether her actions might be seen as an effort to sway voters.

In response, Lydia Alhassan dismissed these assertions, clarifying that her presence at the polling station was solely in her role as a stakeholder to oversee the process and ensure it proceeded without issues.“As a stakeholder, I had to be there to oversee the process. We sent food specifically for our agents and also served the media personnel present. The idea was to ensure that everyone involved in facilitating the voting process was adequately taken care of,” she explained.

Lydia Alhassan explained that she had already left the polling station before any later incidents took place.

She dismissed accusations suggesting she was present when John Dumelo addressed the food-sharing issue.

“As a stakeholder, I had to be there, and so I was there to monitor the process, and we sent food to be given to our agents, and we even served the media.

“After I left, I was told that there was an incident and I was not there, and so when I was asked about the incident, I said I was not near there and so didn’t know anything about the incident, and it was later on that I saw a video of my opponents calling me names.”