JoyNews’ Upper West regional correspondent, Rafiq Salam has been adjudged as the best journalist in the Upper West region.

He beat 7 other journalists in the region to win the award. Apart from being the overall winner, he also won the best health reporter in the region.

In 2018, Rafiq was adjudged the best journalist in a feature story in the northern sector of the country on the SNV Voice for Change Programme.

The maiden Upper West Region Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) 2023 best journalist awards brought together major stakeholders in the media space in the country to award journalists who have excelled in the previous year in their field of work.

Two senior journalists who are on retirement were also honoured with citations for their contribution to the development of the media in the region. It was held on the theme, “Sustaining Ghana’s Democracy Before, During and After The 2024 Elections: The Role of Peace Journalism.

Two stories presented by the ace journalist won him the award. The first was the malfunctioning theatre lamp at the Wa West district hospital which forced doctors at the facility to operate using mobile torchlights to perform surgeries.

Rafiq Salam brought the issue to the limelight resulting in the Edward Boakye Trust Fund donating thirty-five thousand Ghana cedis for the health facility to procure 2 theatre lamps.

The second was his story about Memuna Bakuri, who was spotted by the reporter working as a bar attendant to enable her to pay 50 Ghana cedis for exam registration.

Memuna missed the chance to write the West African Senior High School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2018 due to her inability to pay the 50 Ghana cedis registration fee.

Rafiq Salam’s report again brought the issue to the limelight and resulted in her receiving support from United Kingdom-based Ghanaians, Beverly Oderson, her daughter, Ella Oderson and a former Wa High Court supervising judge, Justice Kwasi Boakye.

They did not only pay the fees but took care of Memuna Bakuri even upon completion, paying for the full cost of learning a trade to become a fashion designer where she passed out with distinction in December last year.

Rafiq Salam thanked his employer the Multimedia Group Limited for the opportunity to work and change the lives of the people. He also thanked his team in Wa, describing them as his backbone.

He also thanked his wife, Hajia Princess Shahida Seidu Braimah for always supporting him on the job.