Ghanaian Language Meet-Up 2025: Wali Wikimedians Community Take-Home

The Wali Wikimedians Community was honored to participate in the third Annual Ghanaian Language Wikimedia Community Meet-Up, held from September 26th to 27th, 2025, at the KNUST Library Mall in Kumasi. Organized brilliantly by the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group and Wikimedia Ghana User Group with support from the Wikimedia Foundation, this year’s gathering was a powerful demonstration of the growth and dedication within Ghana’s local Wikimedia movement.

The Journey to Kumasi and Growing Representation

We proudly had three scholarship recipients of the community gotten from the scholarship committee, symbolizing our community’s commitment to collaboration: Zakaria Tunsung Bukari (User: Zakaria Tunsung), the community lead; Paul Asare (User: Yaw tuba), our communications manager; and Bismark Lanidune (Anthony Dery), a dedicated volunteer editor.

The effort involved in bringing our team together highlighted our dedication: Zakaria and Bismark travelled from the Upper West Region, while Paul travelled from the Greater Accra Region. Their presence contributed to a record-breaking year for the Meet-Up, which saw representation from 13 Ghanaian language communities—a notable increase from the 11 communities that attended the previous two editions held in Tamale. This vibrant representation underscores the rapidly expanding movement to digitize our indigenous languages.

Day 1: Safeguarding Truth and Linguistic Pride

The energy on Day 1 was exceptional, expertly moderated by Daniel Abugre Anyorigya (User: Uprising Man), the Gurene Wikimedians Community’s lead.

The morning set a tone of unity, purpose, and aspiration, beginning with opening remarks from Sadik Shahadu, Executive Director of the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group. Following this, Sandister Tei from Wikimedia Ghana delivered a compelling presentation on the national movement’s growth and the critical role local communities play in achieving global movement goals.

The highlight of the afternoon was a dynamic panel discussion, moderated by Fuseini Musah (User: musahfm), which brought together voices from Dagbani, Ewe, Twi, Dagaare, Wali, and Fante Wikimedians Communities. Our own community co-lead shared our journey, highlighting the unique successes and inevitable hurdles we face in preserving our language online.

Crucially, the session on fact-checking presented by the Media Foundation for West Africa (led by Kwaku Krobea Asante) served as a profound reminder: as language communities, our role transcends mere documentation. We are digital custodians safeguarding truth. In an era rife with misinformation, ensuring the veracity of content created in our indigenous languages is more critical than ever, marking our work as a civic duty. The power of voice technology was also explored through a presentation on Mozilla Common Voice, showing avenues for future documentation.

Day 2: Recapping Momentum and Charting the Future

Day 2 kicked off with a motivational recap by Zakaria Tunsung Bukari, who beautifully captured the energy and shared insights from the previous day.

The second engaging panel, moderated by Alhassan Ragadawu Alhassan, Volunteer Editor from the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group, further reinforced the theme of shared learning. This session spotlighted the journeys of the Moore, Nzema, Ga, Ghanaian Pidgin, Gurene, and Kusaal Wikimedia Communities. Their stories reinforced the profound need for collaboration, mentorship, and joint campaigns across all Ghanaian language projects.

Key Takeaways and Our Collective Strength

Beyond the formal sessions, the informal networking—filled with shared meals, spontaneous photo shoots, and deep conversations—was the true heartbeat of the Meet-Up. These moments strengthened the bonds that make our collective movement possible.

Our key takeaways moving forward are:

1. Fact-Checking is a Civic Duty: We must be equipped to verify information and challenge misinformation to ensure the credibility of content in our languages.
2. Collaboration is Our Strength: Supporting each other through mentorship, resource sharing, and joint campaigns is the most effective path to collective growth.
3. Community is Everything: The shared laughter and commitment demonstrated that our movement is alive, human, and deeply rooted in the love for our cultural heritage.
4. Language is the Key Cultural Heritage: Our work directly preserves the most fundamental element of our communities’ identity.

The Wali Wikimedians Community is energized by the connections made and the knowledge shared. We look forward to implementing these lessons to further enrich the digital space for the Wali language.