MTN Ghana Foundation has held a ceremony to recognise the top ten (10) nominees for the MTN Heroes of Change awards.
These were the nominees who were deemed to have executed the most impactful initiatives that contributed immensely to the management of Covid 19.
This season’s edition was dedicated to recognize, encourage and support people who made significant contributions to Ghana’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The winners were selected based on their unique projects, which fell under the Foundation’s three focus areas: Health, Education and Economic Empowerment.
Each of the winners received a certificate, a citation, a gift of hamper and a cash amount of GH¢20,000 to enable them to undertake more projects and reach more people.
MTN Heroes of Change was launched in July 2013 with the aim of identifying and recognising selfless people who sacrifice their time and resources to improve their communities and to brighten lives.
The previous editions focused generally on initiatives geared towards the focus areas of the MTN Ghana Foundation which are Education, Health, and Economic Empowerment.
The event which was well patronized and pitched as a unique Covid relief improvement project saw many emotional responses from the awardees, many of whom have been struggling to finance the projects using their own resources and contributions from other donors.
Under the Education category, the recipient of this year’s Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) Journalist of the year award, Portia Gabor of TV3, was recognised along with Isaac Ofori of the Ebeyeyie Foundation.
In the Health category, Professor Bobi Barimah, former Director at Center for Plant Medicine Research, Professor William Ampofo, Coordinator for National Covid 19 Testing Network, Gloria Sarkodie Addo, a Psychiatric Nurse and David Hagan of Galaxy Foundation Ghana were honoured for their contribution in the health sector.
Madam Cecilia Gifty Fiaka of Nneka Foundation, Henry Assumeng Ankah of HEAN Foundation, Rhoda Kadoa Wedam of Son-Ba Empowerment Center and
Patience Munayatu Agana were awarded for their work under the Economic Empowerment category.
Both the Board Chairman of the MTN Ghana Foundation and the CEO of MTN Ghana paid glowing tributes to the heroes for their sacrifices.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, disclosed that though the Covid-19 pandemic was not a pleasant experience, it provided an opportunity to see the compassion, generosity and selflessness of humans, and expressed the hope that the work of their Covid Heroes will encourage other Ghanaians to emulate their laudable examples.
Professor Franklyn Manu, Board Chairman for the MTN Ghana Foundation, stated that, the far-reaching impact of the initiative they launched nine years ago is what they are seeing. He underscored that the heroes are special because of the unique circumstances under which the winners operated.
Some of the dignitaries at the event included; Madam Tina Naa Ayeley Mensah, Deputy Minister of Health; Dr. Ken Ashigbey, CEO of the Telecoms Chamber; Prof Franklyn Manu, MTN Ghana Foundation Board Chairman; Dr Gloria Asare, MTN Ghana Foundation Board Member, MTN Executives, Heroes of Change Jury-Rev. Albert Ocran and Oheneyere Gifty Anti, amongst others.
Over 500 entries were received, screened and shortlisted to an initial 100, and then 30. A team visited each of the project sites to verify the submissions.
The panel of three judges selected the top 10 projects which were televised in a 13-week series.
As a result of its impact, MTN Heroes of Change has won several awards which include 2016 IPR Best Community Relations Programme of the Year and CSR Programme of the Year 2015 by the Head of State Awards (HoSA) Scheme.
