World celebrates Komla Dumor’s legacy: Entries open for Komla Award

BBC and the world continues to celebrate Komla Dumor’s legacy through the annual award, the Komla Dumor Journalism Award, which seeks to identify the best African journalists for the BBC World News. Applications for the 2017 award  are open, and talented journalists are encouraged to apply.

The award, which is now in its third year has previously selected the best talented journalists from across the continent.

The journalists from across the continent are invited every year to apply for the award, which aims to identify and promote new talent. According to BBC, the winner will spend three months at the organization’s headquarters in London, gaining skills, exposure and experience in commemoration of Dumor, one of the continent’s best journalism exports.

The  award aims to continue Komla’s legacy by empowering a new generation of journalists from Africa to tell African stories to global audiences with dignity, integrity, impartiality and impact, the same manner Komla did during his broadcasting days at BBC Focus For Africa.

Read: Nancy Kacungira wins Komla Dumor Award

Dumor died in London on 18 January, 2014 aged 41. He was an exceptional Ghanaian broadcaster. During his time at the BBC he made an extraordinary impact – in Ghana, in Africa and across the world. At the BBC Dumor made a remarkable contribution with Focus of Africa programme, which was hugely popular across the world.

Nancy Kacungira. Photo: Facebook

The prestigious award was set up to honour and remember Dumor, who through his exemplary journalism and powerful compelling storytelling techniques about the continental Africa, made the continent proud. Dumor worked tirelessly to change the African narrative, and helped to ensure voices from the continent reach the world. Through his broadcasts, he made the world understand and fall in love with African narratives.

“In 2013, Komla Afeke Dumor, was named in New African’s 100 Most Influential Africans personalities. The Ghanaian broadcaster who played a singular role in transforming the coverage of Africa, not only for the BBC but across broadcasting,” the BBC editor, Baffour Ankomah said.

The previous recipients of the award

The previous winners of the Komla Dumor Award include Nancy Kacungira who worked as a prime time news presenter for the popular Kenya Television Network (KTN) in Kenya in 2015 and Didi Akinyelure a Nigerian journalist who started out as an investment banker in 2016. Both winners used their time at the BBC to develop their journalistic skills through training, workshops and mentorship.

Kacungira and Akinyelure both worked closely with the leading journalists at the BBC in London, working on several reporting projects commissioned by the BBC Award working group, to bring the best stories from Africa.