Election for New Patriotic Party Upper East Regional Executives in Bolgatanga on Saturday was delayed for a long time by controversy as delegates from the Bongo constituency were prevented from voting because of a dispute that emanated after their constituency executive elections late year. The controversy led to a long hold up which pushed the election late into the evening.
The election which took place at the catholic social center in bolgatanga was going on smoothly until a question was raised regarding the eligibility of delegates from the bongo constituency to vote. This led to an argument and a long hold up in the voting process.
All attempts to get someone to speak on record about the incident proved futile but A1 News gathered that the Bongo delegates were being stopped from voting because some members of the party were contesting the election of the current bongo constituency executives in court. They say due procedures were not followed in that election and that it was not supervised by electoral commission.
Electoral Commission (EC) officials said the Bongo constituency delegates could not vote because of the said court case which is still on-going but the delegates insisted that they had to be allowed to vote.
Party elders then decided to hold a closed door meeting to decide the fate of the Bongo delegates. After more than an hour of waiting, it was decided that the bongo delegates could not vote. Counting of the votes then started, a few minutes to 7pm.
Adams Mahama was elected as the new Upper East Regional Chairman of the NPP after polling 153 votes to beat his closest contender, Bukari Ayamga who polled 78 votes. The other two candidates were incumbent chairman, Gabriel Asana and Adullah Achuliwor who polled 19 and 17 votes respectively.
Chairman-elect, Adams Mahama said his victory was not for him alone but the party as a whole. He promised to work to unite the party for victory in 2016.
Mohammed Murtala Ibrahim and Osman Konkonaba were elected first and second vice chairman respectively.
The position of regional secretary went to incumbent, Cletus Ayambire, while Jerry Asamani won the regional organizer title from the incumbent, Yaw Mort.
Regional youth organizer and women’s organizer went to Bashiru Ibrahim and Florence Akuribilla respectively.
It is still unclear what next is going to be done with regard to the controversy surrounding the bongo constituency delegates.
By: Albert Sore | A1radioonline.com | Ghana
