Braimah Sulemana, Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, today was named recipient of the 2023 James and Carol Hovey Eisenhower Fellowships Impact Award for his groundbreaking investigative journalism of accountability in Ghana.
Sulemana, an Eisenhower Fellow from Ghana in 2019, was selected for EF’s new Annual Impact Award to recognize an Eisenhower Fellow or group of Fellows for outstanding project achievement in generating positive impact. His winning project was the establishment of a regional independent nonprofit journalism organization, The Fourth Estate.
“The Fourth Estate has shined a bright light on some of the dark corners of his part of the world, exposing bad governance, corruption and misappropriation of funds,” said Eisenhower Fellowships President George de Lama. “In the two short years since its founding, The Fourth Estate’s incisive reporting has led to impressive results.”
Sulemana’s news organization’s richly documented stories have forced scores of public officials to comply with new asset declaration laws, led to the return of illegally secured state lands back to the government from the family of a late politician, uncovered and halted the illicit distribution fake covid-19 negative test certificates and led to the prosecution of a medical practitioner who was using his facility to sexually exploit female patients, de Lama said.
“None of these things ever would have happened if not for Braimah and his reporters. His project exemplifies EF’s mission to create a world more peaceful, prosperous and just,” de Lama said.
Sulemana’s innovative journalism startup was selected as the winner in a highly competitive field of more than two dozen project submissions from around the world by a distinguished panel of Eisenhower Fellowships Trustees, Fellows, outside experts and senior staff.
The panel noted that The Fourth Estate project is directly tied to Sulemana’s fellowship program and has produced wide-ranging impact that includes promoting transparency and good governance, protecting public health and prosecuting criminals. The panel also recognized that his work comes at significant personal risk and has proven to be sustainable.
Sulemana will receive a $10,000 USD prize to support the work of The Fourth Estate. EF Chairman, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, will present Sulemana the James and Carol Hovey EF Impact Award at the 70th Anniversary World Forum on October 13 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, site of the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945.
Founded as a birthday present to President Eisenhower his first year in the White House, Eisenhower Fellowships brings together diverse, innovative leaders from all fields from around the globe who tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time to better the world around them. Since its founding in 1953, more than 2,500 mid-career leaders from 119 countries have benefited from the unique, customized experience of an Eisenhower Fellowship.
The organization will mark the 70th anniversary of its founding with a World Forum that will bring together hundreds of Eisenhower Fellows and other thought leaders from across the globe in San Francisco October 12-14, 2023 to address pressing transnational problems. The conference, Leaders Confronting Global Challenges: What Works? will focus on emerging solutions in some parts of the world that can be applied in other countries and regions.
You can read more about EF and about its upcoming 70th Anniversary World Forum on its website here and see its recently published program impact report here.
For more information, contact Erin Hillman at ehillman@efworld.org or 215-546-1738.