The Ghanaian Wikimedia Language Communities join hands to host their 3rd language Wikimedia Community meet-up in Ghana

The Ghanaian Wikimedia Language Communities came together for their 3rd national meet-up, held in Kumasi at KNUST Library Mall from 25th -27th September, 2025 with the theme: Revitalising Voices: Empowering Ghana’s indigenous Languages Through Wikimedia. This was supported by the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group, Wikimedia Ghana User Group, College of Science KNUST, Open Science Community Ghana, and funding from the Wikimedia Foundation.The program opened with introductions where participants shared fun facts. Some sang highlife and hiplife, others shared their hobbies like watching movies, editing Wikipedia, dancing, travelling and so on.

In all, 13 communities were represented:

• Wikimedia Ghana User Group
  
• Dagbani Wikimedians User Group
  
• Moore Wikimedia Community
  
• Ghanaian Pidgin Wikimedians Community
  
• Ewe Wikimedians Community
  
• Wali Wikimedians Community
  
• Wikimedians of Twi Language
  
• Fante Wikimedians Community
  
• Gurene Wikimedia Community
  
• Dagaare Wikimedia Community
  
• Ga Wikimedia Community
  
• College of Science KNUST
  
• Open Science Community Ghana
  

Some of these communities were in the incubator last year but are now live Wikipedias.

Highlights:

• Sandister Tei joined via Zoom and shared how she has connected many Wikimedians in Ghana and opened doors for others.
  
• Panel discussion: Dagbani, Twi, Fante, Ewe, Wali, and Dagaare communities spoke about their projects, challenges, and successes.
  
  • Twi highlighted partnerships with KNUST and Winneba and their AfroCuration project.
    
  • Dagbani shared their journey since 2019, with the Dagbani Wikipedia Saha project standing out as a turning point.
    
  • Fante highlighted the need for collaborations among all language communities.
    
  • Wali shared how contests keep their incubator project alive.
    
  • Ewe showcased their translation of the 17 SDGs but noted data challenges.
    
  • Dagaare encouraged more volunteer support.

Other sessions included:

• An introduction to Mozilla Common Voice led by Sadik Shahadu, Fuseini Mohammed Kamal-Deen, and Fuseini Musah. Here is the Presentation slides
• A talk from Media Foundation West Africa on media literacy, ethics, and monitoring indecent language on the Media.
• Group activities and fun games like Pick & Act.

Community updates:

• Moore: Their colleagues in Burkina Faso are eager to join hands in editing.
• Kusaal: Running training at Winneba (Ajumako campus) with plans to expand.
• Nzema: Interest is high, but more support is needed.
• Gurene: Thanked Dagbani Wikimedians for helping them move out of the incubator.
• Ghanaian Pidgin: Became live in April 2023 after getting inspiration from Nigeria Pidgin. Their main challenge is poor AI translations not fitting local Pidgin.
• Ga: Called on contributors to step up efforts for Ga Wikipedia.

There were lightning talks from the core team on how the event was organised.

Finally, Mr. Abdul-Hamid Yakubu from UNESCO Ghana joined via Zoom, stressing the need to help our local languages thrive online. He encouraged content creation, digital literacy training, and stronger collaborations.The 3rd Ghanaian Languages Wikimedia Community Meet-up 2025 was a true celebration of language, culture, and teamwork.

Watch the highlights here:
  3rd Ghanaian Languages Wikimedia Communities Meetup 2025

 Some Reflections from Participants

“Sharing resources among member communities is key to promoting Ghanaian languages, and this can only be achieved through collaboration.”

Abdul-Rasheed Yussif, Project Manager, Dagbani Wikimedians User Group 

“Communities should focus on intrinsic motivation than extrinsic motivation.”

Sadik Shahadu, Executive Director, Dagbani Wikimedians User Group

“You can be literate in your local language, yet still be illiterate in how you communicate information.”

Kwaku Krobea Asante, Programme Manager, Independent Journalism Project, MFWA 

“To ensure the quality of information on Wikipedia, we must not only teach people how to contribute effectively but also monitor the content they publish.”  

Christopher Azorbli, Lead, Ewe Wikimedians Community

“What motivates me is living in an era where the knowledge we add to Wikipedia serves not only people but also AI.”

Robert Jamal, Lead, Fante Wikimedians Community