Christine Ashley has been elected as the first female vice president of the Ghana Chess Association (GCA) at an elective congress held at the Media Centre of the Accra Sports Stadium last Saturday.

She polled 29 votes out of 51 votes cast to beat her opponent, David Acheampong who polled 22 votes.

Ashley before the elections was the Secretary General (SG) for the association and is also the current SG for the Ghana Volleyball Association (GVA), Ghana Scrabble Association (GSA) and a member of the working committee for Ghana’s participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

At the end of counting, Philip Ameku who was then the Vice President was elected president with 39 votes while Ben Mills had 11 votes. One vote was rejected.

Former President of GCA, George Arko Dadzie did not pick a nomination form to contest as president therefore leaving the contest between Philip Ameku and Ben Mills.

Edward Sosu was elected treasurer with Jamena Mensah as organising secretary. Both officers contested unopposed.

The newly elected officers would run the affairs of the Ghana Chess Association for the next four years.

After their swearing-in, GCA President, Philip Ameku thanked the delegates for the confidence reposed in him to lead the association. He assured them that he and his team would do their best to develop the game of chess. He said they would come out with innovative ideas that would promote the game across the country and therefore called on members to support them improve the sport.

Ashley also said “I want to express my heartfelt thanks to the voters of the GCA second congress for electing me as the vice-president. I am honoured and humbled that you have placed your trust in me.

“It has been so encouraging to meet so many new people during my campaign. The support I felt on Election Day was incredible and I owe it to you. With your trust, I will work tirelessly on your behalf to help address challenges, and to secure lasting and meaningful improvements to this honourable association.”

She mentioned that she would work closely with the other offers to serve and seek solutions for problems confronting the association.