WAMECA, which is under the stewardship of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), a media rights champion in Africa, seeks to promote media professionalism that fosters development.
Assisting Joy News Editor Seth Kwame Boateng was adjudged the best Human Rights Reporter in West Africa for his groundbreaking television documentary ‘Left to Rot’.Â
The documentary brought to light the harrowing conditions in Ghana’s prisons and prompted swift measures by the authorities to improve conditions there.
The documentary also spurred the resumption of the Justice for All programme under which some remand prisoners had their cases heard expeditiously and some regaining their freedom.
Seth also won the overall best West African Journalist award, becoming the first to earn the coveted accolade.
Famous Investigative Journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni emerged winner of the Investigative Reporting category.
His story last year detailing the facts of a Ford Expedition gift by a Burkinabe contractor, Djibril Kanazoe, to then-President John Mahama won him the award by beating competition from others.
Joy News’ Upper East Region Correspondent, Albert Sore, also beat other short-listed contenders to emerge the first-runner up of the West Africa Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) reporting award.
Another Joy News’ reporter, Justice Baidoo, was shortlisted for the Oil and Gas Reporting category, however, he lost to Nigeria’s Femi Asu (Punch Newspaper).