Eastern GJA launches regional media awards

The Eastern Region branch of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has launched an awards scheme to reward and motivate journalists working and operating in the region to produce and publish compelling development oriented stories.

The awards which is the first of its kind in the region will have the main event held in the month of May this year and will award journalists in various categories including business/SME, mining /environment, rural reporting, road safety reporting and water/sanitation reporting.

Other categories are morning show, Akan newscaster and crime/court reporting.

The awards will be on the theme, "Repositioning Eastern Region for investments and job creation.”

Entries of journalistic works published between January and December 2017 will be received for vetting by a five-member committee from February 26 to March 26, 2018.

Launching the award scheme in Koforidua at the weekend, Michael Kofi Okyere-Baafi, the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Free Zones Board, lauded the decision for choosing the theme since it is an urgent need for the Eastern Region, with its enormous natural resources, to be repositioned to attract more investors who will contribute in creating jobs for Ghanaians.

The Executive Secretary expressed worry that Ghanaians in general had little or no understanding of the free zones concept, the reason for which they seem to have left the big businesses in the imports and exports sector to the expatriates.

He called on journalists in the region to turn their lenses and tools to sensitising residents on the relevance of engaging in businesses at the free zones so as to enable them establish bigger industries that can offer employment opportunities to the teaming youth in the region.

Mr Okyere-Baafi also announced that the Free Zones Board is almost through with preparation for an American investor to establish a pharmaceutical industry at Kwamoso in the Akuapem North Municipality of the Eastern Region and added that more of such industries can become a reality if the media plays its role well.

He advised the media to endeavour to propagate the facts and the truth devoid of sensationalism.

The Eastern Regional Chairman of the GJA, Maxwell Kudekor, on his part, expressed contentment that the dream and expectations of media practitioners in the region to institute the awards scheme had become a reality.

He said the media in the region for decades have proven to be formidable and "it is up to us to give ourselves recognition."

To him, it is time the GJA considered making the national journalists awards competitive among the 10 regions where it will take up the task of organising awards in all ten regions to select winners to compete for the national awards.

A five-member committee was inaugurated to receive and vet entries of stories from February 26 to March 26, 2018 to select the best to receive awards in May.

The members include, Dr. Awal Mohammed, Lecturer and Head of Department- Liberal Studies, Koforidua Technical University (Chairman), Isaac Akwetey Okunor, a journalist and media administrator (member), Edmund Quaynor, a journalist and Editor (member) and McAnthony Dagyenga, ER GJA Secretary (member).

The award launch was graced by the Eastern Regional commands of the Police Service, the Customs Excise Preventive Service and the Koforidua Prisons as well as Regional Directors of the National Road Safety Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency among others.