Accra (Greater Accra) 9th June ?99

The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Justice Daniel Francis Annan on Tuesday swore in Mrs. Alice Boon, as member for Lambussie, and assured her of the support and encouragement of the House to enable her discharge her duties efficiently.

Mrs. Boon, a 37-year-old teacher, won the Lambussie seat on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in a bye-election held on May 26, when the seat became vacant following the death of Mr Luke Koo, about two months ago.

Mr Justice Annan administered both the oath of allegiance and the oath of Parliament to Mrs. Boon, and on behalf of the House, congratulated her on her electoral victory.

Before the commencement of public business, the leadership of Parliament, including Dr Kwabena Adjei, the Majority Leader, Mrs. Gladys Asmah, the Deputy Minority Leader and Mrs. Comfort Owusu, the Deputy Majority Chief Whip, escorted Mrs. Boon, impeccably attired in white "kaba" and cloth, to the floor of the House to be sworn in.

After the brief ceremony, shouts of yeah, yeah, emanated from the Majority side while a sizeable group of Mrs. Boon's constituents, who had travelled from the constituency to grace the occasion, broke into spontaneous clapping, punctuated by shouts of "ehee edzo", from the public gallery.

In a statement, Dr Adjei said he was welcoming Mrs. Boon to the House with mixed feelings, explaining that the constituency had been forced to go into the bye-election "by the rules", at a time when the funeral of the late Mr Koo had not even been held.

He dispelled a perception that Mrs. Boon's candidature would create a dynasty since her husband, Mr Jacob Boon, was a former Member of Parliament and currently, the District Chief Executive for Jirapa/Lambussie.

Even in her pregnancy, Mrs. Boon demonstrated her gracefulness as a woman and leadership qualities as a politician, he said.

"We are, therefore, not surprised that she has joined us in Parliament, neither are we surprised that the Lambussie seat has been retained by the NDC".

"We want to show to the whole world that the electoral victory is the real beginning of the Rawlings era. Her coming here is an indication of the good things coming to the NDC" Dr Adjei told the House.

Dr Adjei, who is also Leader of the House, said the NDC believes in affirmative action to help bring women into the mainstream of Ghanaian politics and also to enable them to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the country.

It was therefore not proper, for Mrs. Boon's political opponents to use her pregnancy to campaign against her prior to the bye-election, adding that in spite of that, she won the election on merit.