Samia Makes Mincemeat Of Her Opponents

SAMIA YABA Christiana Nkrumah, the Convention People�s Party (CPP) Member of Parliament for Jomoro in the Western Region, on Saturday made mincemeat of her opponents to clinch the prestigious chairmanship position of the party. Samia won a landslide victory as she polled 1,151 votes, leaving three other contestants to share 695 votes among themselves in the hotly-contested race held at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre in Accra. In the fiercely-contested polls, incumbent national chairman Ladi Nylander polled 353 votes; Prof. Edmund Delle, a former chairman of the party, had 332 votes, with Madam Araba Bentsi-Enchill managing only 10 votes. By her enviable achievement, Samia has made political history as she has become the first woman to be the chairperson of any political party in the country. Outgoing CPP National Youth Organiser, and a member of Samia�s campaign team, Kwabena Bomfeh, popularly called Kabila, said the outcome of the election indicated the poor leadership of Mr Nylander. �He is a failed leader and he should not have sought for re-election,� Kabila told Daily Guide yesterday. Even before the votes were cast, opponents, journalists and observers at the CPP�s national delegates� congress had overwhelmingly anticipated a comprehensive victory for the daughter of Ghana�s first president. Neatly dressed in all-white apparel, Samia Nkrumah, supported by her Italian husband, received thunderous applause from a fully-packed congress room to the agony of her opponents after she was called to address the delegates. The room was electrified with wild jubilation and it took minutes for the highly-ecstatic delegates to suspended praises for the chairperson-elect. Samia, who had been described by her opponents as a political neophyte, defied all odds with a simple message, which party delegates received enthusiastically. �We need a new CPP with independent minded people,� she said, assuring party faithful she had the leadership qualities and organizational ability to galvanise support for the 2012 general elections. She also told delegates to honour Nkrumah by voting massively for her to mobilize party supporters for the coming elections as her legendary father did years ago. Samia and other elected national executives would be in charge of CPP�s affairs for the next four years. The CPP has been in the political wilderness for decades but party delegates who spoke to Daily Guide believed that with the new leadership, the party would bounce back to its winning ways. Other national executive positions contested were the General Secretary, National Treasurer, National Organiser, Vice Chairmen, National Women�s Organiser and National Youth Organiser. For the General Secretary position, incumbent Ivor Greenstreet was retained by delegates, beating Nii Armah Akomfrah and Ekow Duncan. Lawyer Greenstreet polled 716 votes, with Nii Armah Akomfrah and Ekow Duncan polling 627 and 471 votes respectively. For the Vice Chairmanship slot, Susan Adu-Amankwah polled 529 votes; Rodaline Ayana, 385 votes and Oteng Anane, 311 votes.