The New Patriotic Party has concluded the 2nd of its 10 regional elections with the Central Region electing new executives on Wednesday as NPP executives assembled in Winneba to elect new regional officers.

As was anticipated, the election of the new executives right from the position of chairman to regional youth organiser was keenly contested.

Mr. Dankwa Bootey Smith, the incumbent Chairman, beat his closest rival Mr. Fred Oware, CEO of Choice FM, by 3 votes. Mr. Smith obtained 152 votes to 149 votes obtained by Mr. Oware.

The position of 1st Regional Vice Chairman of the party was won by Mr. Kenneth Dadson. He beat his closest rival Mr. Yahuza by 2 votes. Mr. Dadson obtained 89 votes to 87 by Mr. Yahuza. Two other contestants for this position, Alhaji Gibreel and Mr. Mensah obtained 71 and 55 votes respectively. The position for regional youth organiser ended in a tie with Francis Agyaaku-Donkor and Nana Hagan obtaining 92 votes each. They were closely followed by Percy Quaicoe who obtained 86 votes whilst the fourth aspirant Ebo Jackson obtained 32 votes. A decision will be taken by the regional executives as to how to break the tie so as to ensure the election of a new regional youth organiser. Due to the closeness of the results a recount of ballots for the above mentioned positions took place.

In other results, Mr. Kwamina Duncan, the incumbent regional general secretary, retained his position by a landslide margin. He beat his closest rival, Mr. Edwin Buckman, by 186 votes to 66, Naana Arthur was elected assistant regional secretary as she beat Mr. Doudou by 291 votes to 80. Thomas Adjei-Baffour, the former regional youth organiser, was elected as the new regional organiser. He obtained 158 of the valid votes cast as he beat Mustapha Mohammed who obtained 124 votes.

The position of regional women’s organiser went to Nana Ama Abrefi who polled 161 votes. Her nearest competitor Joyce Thompson obtained 61 votes whilst Edna Arthur received 52 votes. The incumbent executives for the positions of regional treasurer and the co-ordinator of the Nasara Clubs were elected unopposed.

Mr. Fred Oware pledged his support to the newly elected Chairman and promised to work with him to ensure that the NPP regained the seats it lost to the NDC in the 2008 elections.

In his response Mr. Dankwa Smith extended an olive branch to all other aspirants and urged them to unite and build a formidable front for 2012 as the NPP seeks to re-establish absolute parliamentary control of the central region. On Tuesday the election of new regional executives was thrown in doubt as an injunction obtained was by some NPP members in the central region. The injunction, obtained in the High Court, sought to put the election of new regional executives on hold till constituency elections in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem and Agona West constituencies were held. The General Secretary of the NPP, Nana Ohene Ntow, said he had his hands tied and thus directed, in a circular, that the elections be cancelled.

However, the leading National Executive in charge of the Central Region, Agnes Okudzeto, with the support of the National Organiser Lord Commey and Rita Asobayire, National women’s organiser, obtained a stay of the injunction from the same judge that had granted the earlier injunction and thus the regional elections proceeded as scheduled.

They argued that according to the NPP constitution, a quorum was needed for the election of new executives and that quorum had been achieved because 17 out of the 19 elections in the central region had been held.

In a related development, Nana Akufo-Addo, the 2008 NPP presidential candidate, has congratulated the central region NPP on the smooth manner in which the contest was held in spite of the earlier uncertainty that loomed over the elections.

He was very “encouraged especially by the tone and import of the message given by the two men who contested for the chairmanship and though it was a close contest the two men promised to work together” According to Akufo-Addo, “this is the spirit, attitude and strategy that can foster unity and commitment by all party members to take the NPP to victory in 2012 especially when the result of the contest was so close.

He further added that “those who win must do a lot more to reach out and bring everyone on board for the greater cause ahead of the party.

Nana Akufo-Addo said he was optimistic that the smooth manner that have characterised the two regional elections held so far will be repeated in the outstanding regional elections yet to be held across the country.

The election of new regional executives in the Brong Ahafo region was also held on Wednesday with the election of Mr. Kyeremeh as the new chairman. He beat the incumbent Mr. Owusu Fordjour