Upper West PNC holds delegates Congress

WA, Sept. 16, GNA - The Upper West Regional branch of the People's National Convention (PNC) on Saturday held its Regional Delegates Congress at Wa during which a new regional executive was elected to manage the party for the next four years.

The 47-member electoral college cast ballots for only the positions of Regional Organizer and Deputy Regional Organizer because all those who filed to contest the other positions were returned unopposed. Dr Gilbert Baigne, a private medical practitioner, became the new Regional Chairman with Mr Nuhu Iddrisu Saeed, a retired educationist as the Vice Chairman while Mr Edward Amadu Mumuni, a Wa based Legal Practitioner is the new Regional Secretary with Mr Abudulai Zakaria as his deputy.

Mr Mahama Iddrisu was returned unopposed as Regional Youth Organizer with Madams Ajara Seidu and Fati Duwiejua as Women's Organizer and Deputy Women's organizer respectively while Miss Mary Alabadek took the post of Regional Treasurer and the Regional Education Secretary went to Alhaji Abu Yahaya.

In the two contested positions of Regional Organizer and deputy Regional organizer, Mr Mohammed Abdul-Moomen, a teacher, beat Mr Jerome Urike-kang, a teacher, by 35 votes to 12 while Alhaji Abudul-Mumuni Sidique emerged winner by 24 votes to 23 to become the Deputy Regional Organizer.

The election, which was supervised by Officials of the Electoral Commission, had Professor Yakubu Saaka, a Presidential aspirant of the party and Mr Bernard Mornah, its National Youth Organizer in attendance. Professor Saaka said there was goodwill for the party among Ghanaians but what was keeping it uncompetitive nationally was the inability to mobilize resources to support party functionaries to sell the party.

He said he would use his international connections to resource the party to win the next elections if he was chosen as its next presidential candidate.

Professor Saaka however cautioned, "there are no guarantees in politics only God can offer guarantees, I can only give what God offers me". He said he would never criticize Dr Edward Mahama on any political platform because he had sacrificed enough to keep the party alive all these years.

Dr Edward Gyader, immediate past Regional Chairman of the Party, said it was not true that the PNC was a northern party and wondered whether it was morally right for people to refuse to join the party because it was northern based.

"The NPP was formed by northerners but today it is being referred to as the Danquah/Busia tradition when it should have been Danquah/Dombo/Busia tradition. On the same basis the Nkrumah tradition, which the PNC spearheads, should be Nkrumah/Egala/Liman tradition". He said there could be some truth in the assertion that the PNC was a poor party but the party was not poor in human resources to solve the myriad of socio-economic problems that were confronting the nation. Dr Baigne, on behalf of the new executive thanked the delegates for electing them to lead the party in the region and urged the old executives to cooperate and support them with ideas to achieve their goal of increasing the party's electoral fortunes in the region.