Seven years after joining the Ghana Chapter of the PLO Lumumba Foundation as a communications officer, Dr. Joseph Kobla Wemakor has found himself in the unusual position of helping honour the founder of the organisation that once gave him an opportunity to serve.
Dr. Wemakor, Executive Director of Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), was appointed Deputy Head of Media and Communication of the PLO Lumumba Foundation Ghana Chapter in February 2019 and later became its Head of Media and Communication.
In 2026, he became part of the leadership behind the HRRG Global RightsShield Awards, an international recognition platform established by HRRG to honour individuals and institutions making significant contributions to human rights, democracy, justice, civic freedoms, and sustainable development.
Among the personalities honoured at the inaugural edition was renowned Kenyan legal scholar and Pan-Africanist Professor Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba, who received the HRRG Global RightsShield Award for Pan-African Legal Thought and Moral Leadership.
For Dr. Wemakor, the recognition represented more than an award ceremony.
It marked what he described as a “very humbling full-circle moment” in a professional journey that began within the Ghana Chapter of an institution founded around Professor Lumumba’s Pan-African vision.
“My relationship with Professor PLO Lumumba is not one I can describe simply as that of an admirer of a great African scholar. I had the privilege of serving with the PLO Lumumba Foundation Ghana Chapter, first as Deputy Head of Media and Communication and subsequently as Head of Media and Communication,” he said.
“That experience gave me the opportunity to interact with Professor Lumumba through meetings, engagements, and his public speeches, and I learnt a great deal from him,” he added.
From learning to leading
Dr Wemakor said his experience with the Foundation contributed to shaping his understanding of Pan-Africanism, leadership, governance, human rights, and the power of communication to influence social change.
According to him, the exposure he received during that period continues to inform aspects of his work today.
“Looking back, I realise that some of the principles that guide my work today—human dignity, responsible leadership, Pan-African solidarity, youth empowerment, and the importance of using communication to influence social change—were strengthened during that period of my journey,” he said.
The 2019 appointment was publicly reported by GhanaWeb in February that year, when Dr. Wemakor was announced as Deputy Head of Media and Communication of the Foundation’s Ghana Chapter.
Seven years later, his professional trajectory had taken him to the leadership of HRRG, where he helped establish the Global RightsShield Awards as a platform for recognising impactful leadership and service.
An inaugural class of African and global leaders
Professor Lumumba was among a diverse group of personalities and institutions recognised during the inaugural HRRG Global RightsShield Awards, held in Abuja, Nigeria, under the theme “Championing Human Rights and Democratic Renewal.”
Other inaugural honourees included Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama; Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa; Ms. Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri of Spaces for Change, West Africa; Ing. Dr. George Asiedu, Coordinator of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA-SWP); Hon. Alfredos Nii Anyetei, Municipal Chief Executive of the La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly; Joshua Elikplim Adjei, Programme Officer of HRRG; Eminence Lead International LBG; and international digital rights organisation Access Now and its RightsCon Global Team.
The breadth of the inaugural honourees reflected the awards’ focus on leadership and impact across different sectors, including human rights, democratic governance, diplomacy, digital rights, youth development, local governance, and sustainable development.
Ing. Dr. George Asiedu was recognised for sanitation and sustainable cities leadership, with HRRG citing his contribution to sanitation, water access, public health, and sustainable urban development.
Hon. Alfredos Nii Anyetei was recognised for his contribution to local governance, inclusive development and community transformation.
It was against this broader background of recognising African and global contributions to social progress that Professor Lumumba received the Pan-African Legal Thought and Moral Leadership award.
Why Lumumba was honoured
HRRG said Professor Lumumba was selected in recognition of his contribution to legal scholarship, ethical leadership, constitutionalism, good governance and African unity.
The citation accompanying the award recognised his intellectual leadership, ethical courage, and sustained advocacy for constitutionalism, good governance and African unity.
Professor Lumumba is widely recognised as a Kenyan legal scholar, public intellectual, and prominent voice on Pan-Africanism.
Over the years, he has held a number of senior positions in Kenya and has been involved in academic, legal, governance, and public policy work across Africa.
His public lectures and engagements have also made him a prominent voice in discussions on African leadership, development, governance, and the continent’s future.
“In 2019, I was the one being given an opportunity.”
For Dr Wemakor, however, the significance of the recognition is rooted in the change in roles between 2019 and 2026.
“In 2019, I was the one being given an opportunity to serve under the platform Professor Lumumba had built. Today, in 2026, I find myself in the position of leading an organisation that is recognising him,” he said.
He said the award should not be interpreted merely as HRRG honouring an individual, but also as an African institution recognising the contribution of another African institution of thought.
“I see it as one African institution recognising another African institution of thought—a man whose ideas, speeches, scholarship, and example have influenced many of us who continue to work for a better Africa,” he said.
He further acknowledged that Professor Lumumba may not be fully aware of the extent to which his ideas have influenced people who encountered his work and public engagements.
“Professor Lumumba may not know the full extent to which his words and example have influenced people like me. But I know what I learnt,” he said.
From communications to human rights advocacy
Since his time with the PLO Lumumba Foundation, Dr. Wemakor’s career has expanded beyond communications and journalism into human rights advocacy, civil society mobilisation and institutional leadership.
As Executive Director of HRRG, he has been involved in human rights campaigns, media advocacy, youth development, and civil society initiatives.
The organisation subsequently established the Global RightsShield Awards as an international recognition platform for individuals and institutions contributing to human rights, democracy, justice, civic freedoms, sustainable development, and human dignity.
The recognition of Professor Lumumba has therefore become a significant point in Dr. Wemakor’s professional journey—linking his early experience within a Pan-African organisation to his current role leading a Ghanaian human rights institution with an international recognition platform.
For him, the experience demonstrates how opportunities, mentorship and exposure to influential African thinkers can shape the trajectory of emerging leaders.
What began in 2019 as an opportunity to serve within the Ghana Chapter of the PLO Lumumba Foundation had, seven years later, returned in a different form: an opportunity to honour the very scholar whose ideas and example had helped shape his journey.
