An internationally acclaimed transport engineer and a lecturer at the Department of Planning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr. Camynta Baezie has been elected president of the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW).
He garnered 38 votes against his contender, Victor Nana Odei Ofei, who pollede 23 votes in an election that was conducted by the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
The election was held alongside the Annual Congress of the Ghana Association of Writers at its office, which also serves as the Diplomatic Headquarters of the Pan African Writers Association, PAWA.
62 out of the 170 eligible voters exercised their franchise.
Ohui Agbenyega Allotey defeated Philip Boakye Duah for the position of the Vice President of the Association.
Emmanuel Wilson Jnr. failed in his bid to become the next General Secretary of GAW as he was defeated by Sylvanus Bedzrah.
Meanwhile, Michael Agbesi Kelly and Eric Kwame Akyea Penni went unopposed for the positions of Deputy General Secretary and Treasurer respectively.
The Congress and the election brought together members of the Association, partners of GAW, the media and the public.
In his victory speech, Dr. Camynta Baezie thanked his predecessor, Francis Gbormittah and the outgoing executives for holding the fort and contributing their quota towards the development of GAW.
He further called for unity among members and leadership of GAW.
He says that is the surest way of dealing with some of the current challenges of the Association.
“I will like to say that, we, GAW are the winners today and that we should start from the position of unity. We should come together with a unity of purpose and make commitment that we are going to make GAW a better organization and improve upon what we came and met,” he said.
Dr. Camynta also sought the permission of members of GAW to make appointments to fill vacant executive positions.
“As you realize, we have one major challenge. According to the constitution, we should have a full set of members of the executive. Now we do not have them because there are a number of positions that were not contested. So, I would like to ask members to give me and those of us elected the opportunity to appoint interim members to fill the positions that were not contested. We will present those members to you at our next meeting for ratification,” Dr. Camynta added.
This was unanimously accepted by the members of the Association.
