For the past 24 hours, the renowned BBC has been on the lips of many concerned media personnel in Ghana over the 2023 BBC Komla Dumor Awards.
For the first time since the inception of the Award, a Ghanaian by name Paa Kwesi was announced the winner of the awards.
This should have been a great and exciting news for Ghanaian journalists but after 24 hours since BBC’s publication of the winner, concerns have been raised on the actual Paa Kwesi being declared the winner.
The winner, as published by BBC, Paa Kwesi is currently a TV and radio presenter with a Ghanaian media house by name Media General where he has worked since 2016 but the controversy all began when another Paa Kwesi who works with Multimedia Ghana Limited claimed to be the actual and rightful winner of the awards after claiming to have received an official mail form BBC on Wednesday August 16, 2023 congratulating him.
Sources close to Multimedia’s Paa Kwesi revealed that, BBC further requested traveling documents which were submitted accordingly but to his surprise, another Paa Kwesi was announced the winner of the prestigious award on Monday August 21, 2023.
Meanwhile, the winner, Paa Kwesi as published by BBC also disclosed in an interview that he received an email congratulating him on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
After these revelations, journalists and media practitioners ask the question; “Did BBC accidentally swap the names?”
If that is the case, then how did BBC not double check the names before declaring the winner.
Liliane Landor, Senior Controller of BBC News International Services and Director of the BBC World Service says: “We are delighted to welcome Paa Kwesi Asare to BBC News. Paa Kwesi is a rising star in African journalism.
The winner, Paa Kwesi will spend three months working with BBC News teams in London across television, radio, and online as part of the award.
He will be given the opportunity to further develop his journalism skills through training, workshops, and mentoring with leading BBC journalists.
The award was created in 2015 to honor the memory of Komla Dumor, a BBC World News presenter known for his commitment to reporting African stories comprehensively and authentically.
