Under the rain-washed clouds and soaked streets of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, as the inaugural Africa Editors Congress came to an end, The African Editors Forum (TAEF) crowned Ghana’s Prof Kwame Karikari with the organisation’s Lifetime Service to Journalism Award.
Overwhelmed with emotions, Prof Karikari walked onto the stage to receive the honour bestowed on him by TAEF President, Churchill Otieno.
In conferring the award on Prof Karikari, TAEF recognized his decades of leadership, scholarship, and principled advocacy that have shaped media freedom.
Prof. Karikari retired as Associate Professor and Director of the School of Communication Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, after a distinguished academic career dedicated to strengthening journalism education and communications policy. He graduated from the City University of New York and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and began his professional journey as a working newspaper journalist before transitioning into academia, where he mentored and influenced generations of media practitioners.
Since the 1980s, he has played a defining role in media governance and reform. He served as Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and later as a member and Chairman of the Board of Graphic Communications Group Ltd., publishers of the national Daily Graphic and its allied titles. In the 1990s, he served on Ghana’s National Media Commission, the independent constitutional body mandated to safeguard press freedom and uphold media standards.
In the mid-1990s, Professor Karikari founded the Media Foundation for West Africa, now one of the region’s leading press freedom advocacy organisations. Through this platform and his broader continental engagements, he has championed legal reform, defended journalists under threat, and anchored the struggle for media independence in democratic accountability.
His expertise has informed policy processes at regional and global levels, including consultancies for UNESCO, WHO, ECOWAS, and the African Union. He also served on South Africa’s Press Freedom Commission in 2012. In January 2026, he concluded service as a member of Ghana’s Constitution Review Committee, contributing to proposals aimed at strengthening the country’s democratic framework.
In announcing the award, TAEF noted that Professor Karikari’s work reflects a rare blend of scholarship, institution-building, and public service.
“His career stands as a reminder that media freedom is not self-sustaining but requires vigilance, integrity, and sustained engagement,” TAEF said.
In his acceptance speech, Prof Karikari urged Africa’s youth to change the politics on the continent by entering politics to do the right thing.
Prof Karikari is the third recipient of the Award. South African Mathatha Tsedu was the inaugural recipient, Sudanese journalist in exile, Duraa Gambo was the second.
During the two-day Africa Editors Congress, editors from across the continent gathered to advance a shared agenda for sustainable, independent journalism.
