Damongo based community Radio for Peace And Development (PAD FM) has been awarded best Community Radio Station in the five Northern regions at the just ended 4th edition of the Northern Radio Awards held on Saturday, 11th March, 2023, at the plush, Wuripe and Sons Royal Lodge at Bole.
The first radio station to be established in Gonjaland was honored for its continuous efforts at championing community development and for it’s consistent advocacy positive change within its jurisdiction of transmission.
Since it’s establishment in 2011, PAD FM has worked tireless with it’s located communities and has provided voices for the marginalized and continued to partner other viable stakeholders and institutions in promoting peace and development in the Savannah region and providing platforms for the voiceless to contribute their quota towards Community development.
PAD FM in 2022, runned advocacy and provided the right platform for community members in matters of education, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, women empowerment, agriculture value chain issues, climate change mitigation activities, accelerating and social behavior change activities, traditional, cultural and economic empowerment activities.
The Leader of the Northern Radio Awards and C.E.O of Flawless Creation Consult, Mad. Leartice Naa K. Richardson said the award to padfm was deserving for it’s many successes since it’s establishment and for providing an enabling environment and platform in the training of persons in journalism along with many impactful works done by PAD FM.
The C.E.O said “being the only radio award scheme in Ghana and Northern Ghana, it is bestowed on the team to ensure that person’s worthy of celebration are duly awarded as deserved”.
“This outlines the importance of rewards given to radio stations and presenters”.
The importance of radio to the general public is essential, noting that northern Ghana will be useless without radio stations.
“Northern Ghana will be useless without radio stations, let radio presenters go on strike for one month and filling stations won’t function properly because we are the source of life for the people and government and development of the socio-economic activities of the Northern Ghana.
Over the years, radio has been the major medium of communication for northern Ghana and contributed immensely for the development of the area. It is only proper for staff and radio stations to be awarded because it seems people don’t know us and don’t know our story”, she added.
She challenged northern radio presenters to project the northern stories and culture through their reportage but lamented that some of the northern presenters don’t know their story and these stories are rather been told by others.
We get our stories told by others and so this year, we started to focus on how much efforts we put onto telling the northern story. We need a shift with that north-south disparity, I don’t know what talent exists in the south that we can’t find in the north, adding that the focus is on people who are telling the northern story and telling it better.
Radio PAD presenters who filled for the awards, picked up awards in different categories.
Aside being awarded as the best Community Radio Station, the best Agriculture show of the year award and Savannah region media personality of the year were won by Abdulai Zulkaninu (Nuhu Zulka), Best radio technician of the year won by Kumatey Gorden, Development show of the year went to Gogu Edwin and a merit award was given to Anane Beatrice as the best Radio Babe of the year.
The 2022 edition of the Northern radio awards was held under the theme; ” Radio the Truth Herald, Voicing with Authenticity the northern story”
Source: padfm.com.gh /Gogu Edwin/0555588660
