Upper West NPP elects new chairman
The Upper West Regional (UWR) delegates conference of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) took place peacefully last Tuesday.
The 234 delegates from all the 11 constituencies in the region elected people into all the 10 executive positions to steer affairs of the party in the region for the next four years.
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The election process ended with the declaration of poll results by the UWR Director of the Electoral Commission, Mr Azu Bosco, which saw a 71-year-old businessman, Mr Saanbaye Basilide Kangberee, emerge as the new regional Chairman. He obtained 136 votes, more than those of the five others, all male contestants, in a keenly contested race.
This was after the incumbent, Alhaji Abubakari Abdul-Rahman, aka Alhaji Short, decided to contest the NPP national chairmanship.
The new party executives were sworn into office by the Deputy National Organiser of the NPP, Mr Nuhu Bayorbo Mahama.
Winners
Mr Kangberee beat five other competitors, namely Mr Dapilaa Ishak Gaaba, Mr Philip Dudu Naah, Mr Hafiz Bin Salih, Alhaji Salifu Sina and Alhaji Toyiba Mahama, in an election which was witnessed by government functionaries, as well as all the party’s Council of Elders.
Alhaji Aziz Abdul Rahaman polled 140 votes to beat four other competitors for the First Vice-Chairman position, which became vacant following the decision of Mr Hafiz Bin Salih to contest the UWR chairmanship. The four were Messrs Alhassan Sulemana, Inusah Bipuah, Seidu Suleman and Lawrence Yiryel.
The Second Vice-Chairman position was secured by Mr Cletus Aapengnuo with 77 votes followed by Mr K.O. Yengeh, Mr Aziz Abdul-Suleiman, Mr Abraham Bakpanla and Mr Philip Braimah in that order. The regional secretary position was narrowly won by Mr Isaac Alitu, who obtained 77 votes, beating Mr Amos Gyetuo, his closest contestant, with a single vote. The remaining two contestants were Mr Abu Ibrahim Tamah and Mr Mumuni Baba Seidu. For the Assistant Secretary position, it was a landslide victory for Mr Speratus Ongoh in the four-man race, as he garnered 107 votes to beat Mr Benin Suleman, who obtained 62 votes, with Mr Abu Donyong Yussif and Mr Nana Ahmed Sadat following in that order.
Other winners included Mr Mustapha with 120 votes as the new regional organiser; the Youth Organiser position was won by Mr John Bosco Luri Tia, who obtained 92 votes, while Mr Daniel Tanko Dawda emerged winner with 95 votes as the Regional Treasurer. The rest are Mr Mohammed Osman as Nasara Coordinator, with the Women Organiser position going to Madam Diana Puopelle.
Victory speech
In his victory speech, Mr Kangberee commended the former regional executives for their commitment and working assiduously for the party to grab five parliamentary seats from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which had hitherto held all the 11 parliamentary seats.
He further assured the former Regional Chairman, Alhaji Abdul-Rahman, that the NPP would win all the remaining parliamentary seats in the region, especially the Nadowli-Kaleo Constituency seat, which had remained the stronghold of the NDC and had Mr Alban Kingsford Bagbin as its Member of Parliament (MP).
