Samson Deen elected to head Africa Paralympic Committee

Samson Deen, the President of the National Paralympic Committee (Ghana) has been elected the President of the Africa Paralympic Committee (APC).

The Ghanaian businessman polled 24 votes out of the 41 votes to assume the role at an election held during the General Assembly in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday, October 31.

Mr Deen beat Morocco’s Hamid El Aouni who polled 15 votes to replace the outgoing APC President Leonel da Rocha Pinto who served for 13 years.

Dr Hayat Khatab of Egypt won the 1st Vice President position. She polled 23 votes to beat her closest opponent Mr Rodrigo Bejarano of Cape Verde who polled seven Votes.

In all, nine positions were contested, including President, Secretary-General, Vice President, Treasurer, a representative each from the language communities (English, Arabic, French and Portuguese) and an athlete representative.

The 41 delegates (38 in-person and 3 voting online) comprised of Presidents and General Secretaries of National Paralympics committees in Africa.

Mr Deen was elected President of the National Paralympic Committee in 2019.