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The Waali Wikimedians Community and the Dagaare Wikimedians Community have held a joint end-of-year get-together and awards ceremony to celebrate key milestones in the digitalization of the Waali and Dagaare languages through Wikimedia projects.
The event brought together members of both communities to reflect on their collaborative efforts to preserve and promote indigenous languages online, while also recognising outstanding contributors whose work has helped amplify local voices in the digital space.
Speaking at the ceremony, Waali linguist and Vice Principal of N.J. Ahmadiyya College of Education, Abdul-Moomin Abdul-Aziz, expressed excitement about the growing collaboration between the two language communities. He described the partnership as a positive step toward strengthening indigenous language representation on global digital platforms.
Mr. Abdul-Aziz also called for broader promotion of Mabia languages across northern Ghana. He explained that languages such as Kusaal, Mampruli, Dagbani, Nankani, Waali, Dagaare and Gurune share similarities and mutual intelligibility, yet remain distinct languages that deserve deliberate preservation and documentation.
He further encouraged members of the Waali and Dagaare Wikimedians communities to continuously build their knowledge and skills to ensure long-term growth and prosperity of their language projects.
Founder and President of the WIKI CLUB at the University for Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS), Daboo Gideon Babosima, urged community members to work passionately to achieve even greater success in future editions. He reminded contributors that their names are attached to the articles they create, making quality and dedication essential.
The programme was sponsored by the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group, a Wikimedia Foundation affiliate based in Tamale. Although the annual event is usually held in Tamale with limited representation from other language groups, this year’s ceremony stood out for involving a large number of Wa-based community members.
Awards were presented to outstanding contributors from both communities. For the Waali Wikimedians Community, Faiz Brichini Muhaideen was named Top Wikimedian of the Year, Osman Umu Salma won Top Female Wikimedian of the Year, and Yussif Kanyiri Ibrahim was recognised as Top Newbie Wikimedian of the Year.
In the Dagaare Wikimedians Community, Bismark Lanidune emerged as Top Wikimedian of the Year, Edith Tangkur was named Top Female Wikimedian of the Year, while Eric Gangman received the Top Newbie Wikimedian of the Year award.
The joint celebration highlighted the power of collaboration in advancing indigenous language digitalization and reaffirmed the commitment of Wikimedians in northern Ghana to preserving their linguistic heritage online.
