Kumasi, April 24, GNA- Mr Lawrence Kwasi Prempeh, 53, a consultant and special advisor at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI), was on Friday elected New Patriotic Party (NPP) chairman of the newly-created Oforikrom constituency in the Kumasi metropolis.

He polled 56 votes in an election conducted and supervised by officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) as against his opponent, Mr Kofi Asante of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) who had 33 of the total votes cast.

Mr Frimpong Manso also polled 53 votes to beat his close rival, Mr J.A. Fiifi Eshun who had 34 votes to become the secretary. Mr Kofi Owusu was elected unopposed as organiser when Mr Baba Awudu Mohammed stepped down at the last minute.

Swearing in the executives, Mr Samuel Cudjoe, Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NPP, asked them not to relent in their efforts but to embark on massive membership drive to win more votes to enable the party obtain its target of 96 percent votes in the Ashanti region this year. Addressing the delegates after the elections, Mr Frederick Fredua Anto, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, commended the victors and said they had not won the positions for themselves but for the party. He said the elections should not divide them but rather unite them to forge closer co-operation and unity to push the party forward. Mr Anto called on the new executives to start a campaign plan that would enable the party win more seats at areas occupied by the opposition.

Dr Edward Baffoe-Bonnie, Member of Parliament (MP) for Asokwa East, congratulated the contestants and said what was important after the election was the work ahead and not who won or lost. He appealed to the delegates to forget the past and work together as a party.