Media General Board Chairman, Professor Kojo Yankah, has congratulated Paa Kwesi Asare of TV3 for winning the 2023 BBC News Komla Dumor Award.

Paa Kwesi Asare is an inspiration for Professor Yankah’s colleagues at Media General and the media sector as a whole, who are following in his footsteps, as well as the founder of the Pan African Heritage Museum. Paa Kwesi will spend three months working with BBC News teams in London on television, radio, and online as part of benefits of winning the award. Through training, workshops, and mentoring from top BBC journalists, he will have the chance to strengthen his journalism talents.

The award was established in 2015 to pay tribute to the late BBC World News presenter Komla Dumor, who was known for his dedication to reporting on African issues in-depth and accurately.

Commenting on Paa Kwesi’s award, Prof Yankah said; “I will like to congratulate Paa Kwesi Asare for this honour, he has been an inspiration to most people who are following in his footsteps particularly at Media General, TV3, and also in the journalism industry as a whole in Ghana.”

“I have watched him from afar, since he joined Media General and I have found him to have some of the distinct qualities of Komla Dumor because I knew Komla Dumor very well, he was the one who never rested, he was the one who researched thoroughly, he was the one who was careful about what he was saying every time and he was a committed and passionate journalist. That is how I see Paa Kwesi Asare. Sometimes I think he is too passionate.”
Prof Yankah

More Ghanaians Should Apply

According to Mawuena Trebarh, sister of the late broadcaster Komla Dumor, more Ghanaians should apply for the BBC News Komla Dumor Award.

She said that the prize program is a fiercely competitive project, and it’s inspiring to see young African media professionals compete and succeed.

Mawuena Trebarh made these remarks, while commending TV3’s Paa Kwesi Asare for winning the 2023 edition of the award. She remarked that it was thrilling that a Ghanaian had won the prize for the first time, since it had been established eight years earlier.

Commenting on Paa Kwesi’s award, Mawuena Trebarh said; “I have the gift and the blessing of remembering Komla Dumor as my younger brother. Today is such a fortuitous day as we celebrate 80 years of my father’s life, only to find that we have just been delivered this wonderful news that for the very first time in the history of the BBC Komla Dumor Award, a Ghanaian has won.”

“It is my privilege to, on behalf of the family, extend our congratulations to Paa Kwesi Asare and to say how thrilled we are as a family and as Ghanaians that for the first time, a Ghanaian has been acknowledged for excellence in broadcast journalism.
“We wish him every success and we encourage other Ghanaians to put in the application. Indeed it is a very competitive initiative and it is exciting to see young African professionals in the media landscape applying and learning and growing and developing their skills but it is especially beautiful to know that this time a Ghanaian has won. We look forward to more successes and we remain committed to our partnership with the BBC for a long-lasting legacy in Komla’s name.”
Mawuena Trebarh