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�NDC Friends of Spio� in Canada, the USA, the Nordic region, Germany, Switzerland and the UK wish to send most hearty congratulations to Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah for winning the Chairmanship slot of the UK-Ireland NDC at the elections held on Saturday 31st October in Tottenham, London. Horace Ankrah won more than 70% of the vote, and would have likely won by an even larger margin if a decision had not been taken by the NDC Party headquarters in Accra to limit eligible voters to only those who had fully paid in their dues by July 25th thereby revoking an earlier decision that allowed a larger number that had paid in their dues by end of September 2009 to vote. The mammoth event was which was attended by a large section of the Party�s membership and party faithful in the UK & Ireland, and ward representatives from Birmingham, Sheffield, Liverpool and Milton Keynes. A high level delegation from NDC headquarters in Accra led by Hon. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, NDC General Secretary, and Hon. Kofi Attor, Director of International Relations also attended the event. Mr Ludwig Hlodze, Deputy National Youth Organiser and Presidential Staffer and a colleague of Segbefia was also in attendance. Mr Ankrah, a very successful businessman in both Ghana and the UK, runs a string of businesses including in the commercial education and transportation fields. In the run-up to this election, which was postponed three times, partly for fear that his election will herald a boost for pro-Spio forces within the NDC and in UK, Mr Ankrah had explained on various radio stations that he was simply an ardent NDC member who supported President Mills and the Mills-Mahama government and had contributed in various ways to the NDC and President Mill�s election victory in 2008. To charges that he was a pro-Spio NDC member, Mr Ankrah responded by advising that he was friends with all segments of the Party, that had great respect for former President Rawlings, had associated with President Mills, and had also been taught in Adisadel Secondary School in the early 1970s by Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah. As such, he had had a more than 35-year friendship with his former tutor and so there was no need to deny that friendship. Ankrah however made it clear that his priority is to unite the various interest groups in the NDC in UK and Ireland, forge close and effective working relations with the NDC Secretariat in Ghana as well as the government of the day. He made it clear that he had no agenda to promote any factions within the NDC. In the view of NDC Friends of Spio, the victory of Mr Ankrah attests to the fact that despite attempts by some hardliners within the NDC to marginalize and denigrate the contributions of Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah to the NDC, many of those who are his friends and admirers are very much amongst those now trying to rebuild the Party, its branches and its structures both in the diaspora and in Ghana. Notwithstanding recent attempts by some to persecute Spio-Garbrah and his growing following in the Party, Friends of Spio have remained focused and single-minded in their commitment to the Party as an institution, and the need for the Party to strengthen its internal unity if it is to win the 2012 elections. The NDC Friends of Spio wish to use the election of Horace Ankrah to reiterate its commitment to internal democracy within the NDC and to urge the new executives to bring Unity into the Party's branches, and also ask them to launch more wards in various cities in UK and Ireland (Nottingham, Southampton, Birmingham, Glasgow, Oxford, etc). NDC Friends of Spio wish God�s blessings on Horace Ankrah and his new executive team and success in all they do for the NDC and for Mother Ghana. They can count on the support of the NDC Friends of Spio whose numbers, resilience and strength grow by the day, as the very selective and unjust political persecution of Spio continues within certain sections of the NDC. . Long Live internal democracy in the NDC Long Live the Mills-Mahama government Long Live JJ Rawlings, NDC Founder Long Live the NDC And Long Live Ghana NDC Friends of Spio ([email protected])