Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, the General Secretary of the Maritime and Dockworkers’ Union and Executive Director of Wacam, a human rights and environmental mining advocacy NGO, received the Smiles Magazine Meritorious Leadership Award at the launching of the Special “Smiles” Edition held at the Novotel Hotel in Accra on Saturday 20th September 2014.

“Smiles” Magazine, which is a Quarterly Lifestyle Magazine Published by Chanis Communications, is devoted to the projection of the true Ghanaian identity and branding through culture, Tourism and a reference publication for information.

The special edition of “Smile” Magazine focused on culture and the profile of experienced personalities who have achieved laurels in their professional work.

The Honourable Freddie Blay, the former Deputy Speaker of Parliament who launched the magazine commended Smile Magazine for developing the initiative of the special edition of “Smiles” to focus on national identity, tourism, culture and the profile of Ghanaians especially young men and women of excellence.

Honourable Blay advised the Publishers of Smiles Magazine not to concentrate on the profiling of Ghanaian achievers in the corporate world alone but should extend the profile of people of excellence to cover all aspects of our society to bring out the good work of people who have contributed to nation building. “This is a good initiative that should be supported”, he said.

Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng who chaired the ceremony lamented that Ghana’s economic crisis stems from the nation’s inability to harness the enormous natural wealth and the creative capacity of Ghanaians to boost the domestic economy. According to Mr Owusu-Koranteng, no amount of external support could develop our country if we do not have a vibrant domestic economy, which is fuelled by local consumption.

“Patriotism and national orientation are important ingredients for economic development and we must make a conscious effort to make our population the market for our home grown products and initiatives”, he stated.

He congratulated the Publishers for creating the special edition of “Smiles” Magazine to brand Ghana through culture, fashion, arts and profile of people of excellence to highlight the “can do” spirit of Ghanaians.

A citation of the Smiles Magazine Meritorious Leadership Award to Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng described him as a person with persistence and determination to protect the rights of communities affected by mining operations in Ghana.

The citation mentioned that Mr Owusu-Koranteng had received many awards and honours including being honoured by the Colorado- based American Indian Movement with Father Marco Arana, the President of GRUFIDES of Peru at a traditional American Indian ceremony in Denver, USA in April 2006 and the profiling of the life of Mr Owusu-Koranteng on CNN in recognition of his exemplary leadership qualities and commitment to the protection of the rights of indigenous people.

In response to the award presented by Chanis Communications, Hannah Owusu-Koranteng (Mrs) who is a Co-Founder of Wacam thanked the management of Chanis Communications for the honour and expressed commitment to continue the challenging work of defending the rights of marginalised people.