Kwame Nkrumah African Genius Awards

On the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the birth of Ghana’s first President, the Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah African Genius Award scheme is urging all Ghanaians to take advantage of the current ‘Call For Nominations’ in the media to nominate for honour, Ghanaians of truly outstanding achievement, both resident and working in the country or abroad.

For the sake, especially of our children and the youth of this continent, it is imperative that the achievements of Ghanaian and other African makers of civilization be trumpeted. Africa has had geniuses and continues to birth achievers who are making no mean contribution to world civilization in the sciences and the humanities. Without the knowledge of the works of such Africans, we shall continue to look down on ourselves. We are convinced that this is where the call for domestication, the quest to get Africans to believe in and be proud of ourselves and our own products, begins. This is what Kwame Nkrumah knew and began to trumpet as he set himself the agenda to unearth the ‘African Genius’ for continent’s development at breakneck speed.

The Call for Nominations, which has been on-going for some three weeks now, comes to a close at the end of the first week of October, after which the Board of Governors of the the Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah African Genius Award scheme, headed by Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Omanhen of Essikado, the Grand Patron, will constitute a team to sieve through the nominations for the best three in each category. The three nominees with the highest scores and Board Approval will be selected.

This will be followed by a period of extensive profiling in the media, primarily to present the nominees, as it were, to the general population of Ghanaians. This is primarily to popularize their achievements and also to aid in the selection of the ultimate winner in each category. The public will then be invited to choose the overall winner in each category through SMS and on-line voting.

By ‘African Genius’, the scheme is on a search for Ghanaian outstanding achievers, whose works in Arts and Culture, in the sciences and in the exhibition of the African virtue of Humaneness, have impacted society to the extent of their becoming national or international references. Nominees will be awarded for their Lifetime Achievement. Achievers who have passed on are also eligible for Posthumous nominations. Where applicable, each category also makes room for Young Icons, that is, young prodigies, aged 39 and below, who have consistently worked at or come out with an artistic or unique creation or scientific invention for not less five years.

The 12 categories include ENTREPRENEURSHIP under which will be honoured achievers in the sub-categories of Manufacturing, Chemical and Chemical Products, Banking & Financial Services, Tourism & Hospitality; AGRICULTURE, namely Farming or Fishing; SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION, where nominations are expected to unearth prodigies in Industry or institutions of higher learning; INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - in the areas of Software development, Manufacturing or Education - and MEDICINE in which area nominees could be in the areas of Traditional Medicine or Western Medicine.

Others are: FILM and DRAMA with sub-categories in Production, Acting, Direction and Script; DANCE with sub-categories in Traditional Dance, Dance Theatre, Contemporary and Emerging African Dance; WRITING where the scheme will be looking for excellence in Academic Writing, Journalism and Creative Writing; MUSIC, with emphasis on Composition, Lyrics and Voice Performance, and VISUAL ARTS in which category the scheme is on a search for excellence in either Painting, Interior Decoration, Photography Weaving Carving, Pottery or Sculpture

African Geniuses are also being sought in the field of DESIGN where nominations are expected in the sub-categories of Engineering Design, Fashion Design or Architectural Design. Finally the scheme is also on a search for persons who have exhibited INNOVATION IN TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP, that is, both male and female chiefs who have taken the institutions to the next level.

The awards night is slated for the National Theatre on Saturday, November 29, 2014. The awards ceremony will be preceded by a cocktail event for actors in the scientific and cultural communities, state appointees, members of the Diplomatic Corps and other persons of eminence.

The Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah African Genius Award scheme is an initiative of the Centre for Communication and Culture and is guided by a Board of Governors chaired by Honourable Kojo Yankah, former Minister of State and founder/president of the African University College of Communication, Mr Kwaw Ansah, Ghana’s foremost filmmaker and CEO of TV Africa, Vice Chair; Professor Francis Nkrumah, immediate past Director of Noguchi Memorial Centre and son of the Osagyefo; Dr Ellen Hagan, CEO of L’Ainee Services and one time CIMG Marketing Woman of the Year; Mr Alhassan Andani, CEO of Stanbic Bank; Mr Daniel Asiedu, CEO of Zenith Bank, Major Albert Don-Chebe (Retd), Director-General of GBC, Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group and Mr Kwame Acheampong Kyei, Executive Chairman of the GLICO Group

The rest are Mr David Dontoh, a cultural and TV personality, Dr. Joseph Ampofo , Director of Water Research Institute; Professor Kofi Asare Opoku , an Emeritus Professor of African Studies; Obaapa Adwoa Awindor , CEO of Premier Productions; Prof Francis Nii Yartey, professor of Dance at the University of Ghana and Nana Owusu Afari, immediate past president of the Ghana Association of Industries..

Signed:

Enimil Ashon

Executive Director, Centre for Communication and Culture

Dated: 25 September 2014