The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Greater Accra Region has a new helmsman. Benjamin Danso, until now the party's Krowor Constituency Chairman, has wrested the regional chairmanship from Emmanuel Nii Ashie Moore, bringing to a close a tenure that began when the latter unseated Joseph Ade Coker.
The result, declared after delegates cast their ballots on Saturday, confounded Mr Ashie Moore's pre-voting optimism.
Hours before the count, the incumbent had told interviewers he had no doubt the delegates would reward his stewardship of the party in the region, saying: "I'm very confident the delegates today will reward hard work." The delegates thought otherwise.
For Mr Danso, the win caps a deliberate ascent through the party's structures.
Beyond running the NDC machinery in Krowor, he had already earned the trust of his peers as chairman of the Greater Accra NDC Constituency Chairmen's Association, a body that convenes constituency leaders from across the region; experience that plainly served him well in marshalling support beyond his own backyard.
On the campaign trail, he promised a leadership anchored in service, integrity and fidelity to the grassroots, and spoke of knitting together party structures in every constituency of the region into a united front built to deliver victory at the next general elections.
His task now is to translate that promise into practice in a region that routinely shapes national electoral fortunes, and to steady a party machinery whose direction will be scrutinised closely in the months ahead.
