The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation GBC’s Regional Editor and Correspondent, Kingsley Nana Buadu has been named, ”Journalist of the Year”, at the 2021 Ghana Energy Awards, held in Accra.
Kingsley was nominated together with six other Journalists in the most competitive and prestigious Energy Awards in Ghana. This year’s awards organized at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra marked its 5th Anniversary.
The Ghana Energy Awards aims to recognize efforts, innovation and excellence within the energy sector and to celebrate the tremendous work of the players, competing under various categories of awards.
It provides the platform for industry champions to gain the recognition deserved for their contribution and performance in the energy sector, for the year in review.
The 5th Anniversary edition of the awards scheme is dubbed “Digitalised Energy Sector: The Key For A Resilient Economic Future”.
This year’s awards comprised Nineteen (19) competitive categories for the power, petroleum and renewable sub-sectors as well as Energy Journalist or Reporter of the Year.
There were also non-competitive awards for individuals and institutions that distinguished themselves in the sector.
The awards were organized by the Energy Media Group in partnership with GP Business Consulting. It is endorsed by the Ministry of Energy, it’s allied agencies and the World Energy Council with validation by Mazars Ghana, an auditing firm.
The Energy Journalist or Media Personnel of the year is awarded to an outstanding Journalist who was able to impact the energy sector and the Community through sound reporting and outstanding work.
The Panel or Committee for the awards is made up of outstanding industry players, members from former and current regulators and experts in the sector. The final work of the Committee is further validated by an auditing firm, Mazars Ghana. The nominee must have presented relevant, credible and impactful industry news.
Kingsley’s nominated story was about the discovery of Lithium in larger quantities at Ewoyaa, a small Farming Community in the Mfantsiman Municipality of the Central Region. This found latest mineral placed Ghana as the World’s Latest Hub for Lithium and first West African Lithium Producing Country.
It is estimated to bring in $1.5 billion for the first five years of its production. The company undertaking, prospecting of this mineral is IronRidge Resources, which had entered into a binding agreement with Piedmont’s Lithium to fully execute and fast track the Ewoyaa Lithium Project.
About Lithium:
Lithium is a mineral which serves as a raw material for all kinds of batteries. What makes it the hottest and most sought after mineral is because Lithium is what is used to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles. With conscious effort by World Leaders and Automobile Companies to phase out fossil fuel cars and replace them with electric cars, the good news is that Ghana stands to benefit immensely.
Impact:
The story highlighted for the first time in the Ghanaian media the discovery and presence of Lithium in that part of the country. The news generated some excitement.
The other issue the story highlighted for discourse and action is on transparency and accountability, taking into consideration how revenues from other mineral resources have been treated over the years.
“It was clear during my visit to Ewoyaa and further to the Lithium site that custodians of the Mineral resource themselves knew very little about the happenings. How about the public?”, Kingsley questioned.
While working on the story, Kingsley said he had some interference from the Site Managers and Workers, who prevented him from audio-visual documentation of the site.
”As a Journalist, I managed to get some visuals for this story which was aired on GBC’s Business Magazine program, GTV’s Market Avenue with Edward Nyarko, ” Kingsley noted.
His story generated some conversation and discourse in the media, with the public raising issues of transparency and accountability. According to Kingsley, although the Mfantsiman Municipal Assembly was in the know of the activity of Lithium found, issues of monitoring and supervision were not a priority.
Consequently, Kingsley’s story compelled the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly and the prospecting Company to organize a media tour of the site, where the mode of operation, and terms and conditions were explained to the media.
Besides, the People of Ewoyaa are also becoming aware of what they are custodians of(Lithium), and the need for them to position themselves properly to derive the needed benefit to improve their lot.
Ewoyaa is a farming community of about 300 inhabitants. It has no school, there is a bad road network and no proper telecommunication network.
“ Being nominated alone for this prestigious and competitive awards is an honour and I owe it to my team and my Boss Edward Nyarko, for the guidance”, Kingsley posited.
”My Joy as a Journalist is seeing to it that my stories and work impact people and communities positively and change their lives for good”.
“The people themselves feeling and acknowledging the impact alone is a win already for me. This is what l stand for and continue to do as my contribution to society as a Journalist and being nominated for what I have been doing always is an honour and extra acknowledgment and I appreciate that”, he stressed.
Kingsley expressed appreciation to the organizers for finding his story worthy of the award and also to his colleagues for their continuous support with special mention of Edward Nyarko and the team for the support.
“This is for all of us” he said.
Kingsley Nana Buadu is a self-motivated and result-oriented individual whose focus is to get his job done and contribute positively to society. He is the Regional Editor and Correspondent for GBC in the Central Region.
His Journalistic interests cover, Climate Change and Environmental issues, Transparency and Accountability Issues in the Extractive industry, including Oil and Gas, Mining and Fisheries, as well as Corporate Communication, Occupational Health and Safety Issues at the workplace.
