After 10 years of its conception, the Arts and Tourism Writers Association of Ghana (ATWAG) held its first elections.

The election which was held on 16th December, 2017 at Academc City in Accra had to go into a run-off for the Public Relations Officer position which was contested by Citi FM’s Kwame Dadzie and Eugene Osarfo Nkansah of Peace FM. The two had a tie.

On 23rd December, 2017, the re-run was held and Kwame Dadzie won the PRO position.

Kwame Dadzie
According to Kwame Dadzie, his main objective is to market the association through its PR machinery.

“I will introduce what I call ‘ATWAG Quarterly’ where every 3 months we flood the media with topic that seek to clear all ill-conceptions about arts and its writers and to also educate the public on the importance of arts and tourism to the society,” he said.

Kwame explained that by so doing the society will gradually respect the arts which for many years have been treated as ancillary in the scheme of things.

Other officers elected were the Managing Editor of the Daily Heritage newspaper, William Asiedu, who won the president’s position after contesting unopposed.

Hitz FM’s Frank Kwabena Owusu was also elected as the Treasurer of the Association, with Mic Yamoah of Flex newspaper emerging as the General Secretary.

The position of Organiser was keenly contested between Mustapha Inusah and Isaac Kwaku Kpogeh, but the former stood tall after the voting process.

Pulse.com.gh’s David Mawuli was also elected as Research Officer of ATWAG, despite stiff competition from Vivian Abigail Oppong of the Ghana Institute of Journalism.

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The ATWAG elections were supervised by the Electoral Commission, chaired by Arnold Asamoah-Baidoo (Editor of Entertainmentgh.com) with great support from Osarfo Anthony (Founder/Managing Editor of Presspeep.com) and Halifax Ansah-Addo (Editor of The Publisher).

PROFILE – Kwame Dadzie

Kwame Dadzie, born Emmanuel Kwame Dadzie on 18th May, 1985 in Koforidua, is a broadcast journalist with Ghana’s number one English – speaking radio station, Citi 97.3 FM. He writes for the arts and entertainment page of citifmonline.com and also presents ‘Celebrity Radar,’ an entertainment segment on Citi FM’s late afternoon show, hosted by Jessica Opare-Saforo.

Kwame stepped the threshold of Ghana’s media space in 2009 as a radio presenter at Krush FM, an online radio, in Koforidua where he hosted a show called ‘Get In Touch.’

Not long after that, he joined George Ayisi Asiedu as producer on Sunrise FM’s entertainment show called ‘Ultimate Chart Show.’ In 2011, he moved to Eastern FM where he produced the Eastern Chart Show hosted by Londona and even presented the tit – bits segment of that show.

In the same year, he produced Abeiku Desmond’s Emak Countdown on Emak FM. Then on 18th March 2012, Kwame was invited by the late Vision FM boss Oliver Desbordes Acquah to handle their entertainment show, Arts and People.

He did it expertly that in 2014 and 2015 he was nominated in the Radio and Television Personality Awards as ‘Best Radio Personality’ in the Eastern Region. He also was nominated alongside entertainment media moguls like Francis Doku, Ameyaw Debrah, Ama Larbie, Eben Afum, Halifax Ansah Addo, NY DJ and Osarfo Anthony in the Best Entertainment Journalist category of the maiden edition of GN Bank Awards.

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Apart from ‘Arts and People,’ he also hosted Campus Edition, a show that shed light on issues and activities related to secondary and tertiary institutions in the country, on Vision FM.

In 2015, he started hosting a gospel chart show called ‘Gospel Countdown’ on Care TV. He interviewed gospel artistes such as: Diana Hopeson, SP Kofi Sarpong, Willie & Mike, Obaapa Christy, Piesie Esther, Nhyira Betty, among others.

Kwame followed his passion to Pluzz FM in March, 2016. At Pluzz FM, he hosted ‘Flex on Pluzz’ on Sundays. It was a purely entertainment magazine programme.

As a writer, he worked for Flex newspaper for eight (8) years, where he rose to the position of Deputy Editor. He has also written poems that touch on critical social issues. His depth of language is one that is revered by many. He writes, creates concepts for radio/TV shows and does captivating voice-overs.

His wit and impeccable command over the Queen’s language has earned him a space in PR world. He has served as Public Relations Officer to Kids Choice Awards, Central Music Awards and the Presenters Association of the Eastern Region.

The opinionated writer is also one of the finest events MCs Ghana has ever produced. Apart from the numerous weddings and social functions he has emceed, he has also handled Lords of the Arts Show, Republic Day Praise in Koforidua, Eastern Music Awards and the album launch of mater pianist, Isaac Aryee.

In the Eastern Region, Kwame Dadzie was one of the few people who engineered the formation of the Presenters Association of the Eastern Region (PATER). That association has united broadcasters in the region and has helped to enhance professionalism in the radio terrain.

Mr. Dadzie attended Koforidua Secondary School and completed in 2002. He was the Senior School Prefect but was active in the School Choir, Creative Writer Club and entertainment activities.

He then trained at the Presbyterian Training College and passed out in 2006 as a teacher. At training college he studied Music & Dance in his second year, wrote and performed a lot of his songs, alongside comedy, while on campus.

Kwame did media work aside teaching for ten years before finally saying goodbye to the classroom. According to Kwame, he has the creative arts at heart and wishes to see some change in the creative industry.

This informs the formation of his advocacy group Voice of the Arts which prior to the 2012 general elections in Ghana, prodded political parties to feature the creative arts prominently in their manifestoes.

A graduate of the University of Ghana with Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Sociology, Dadzie is married to Gifty Abena Marfoa Nyamekye, an administrator at the University of Cape Coast.

presspee.com