AWOL Relaunches National Achievement Awards After Seven-Year Hiatus

All Works of Life (AWOL) has relaunched its National Achievement Awards and unveiled the committee responsible for the 2026 edition, bringing the programme back after a hiatus that followed the last ceremony in 2019.

The relaunch was held on Thursday, 24 September 2026, at Roof Garden on Aberdeen in Freetown. AWOL members, committee representatives and journalists attended the event.

Committee to oversee awards process

The National Achievement Awards Committee is chaired by Dr. Fatu Taqi. Its membership includes representatives from professional, civic and public institutions, including the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, 50/50 Group, Budget Advocacy Network, the Sierra Leone Bar Association, the National Youth Commission, the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Association, Potent Network Advocacy and the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

Professor Joe A.D. Alie, Professor Joey D. Ali, Ambassador Anthony Navo Jnr. and Ambassador Moseray Fadika were also named in connection with the committee and the event in the source material.

AWOL Chairman Ahmed Sahid Nasralla said the awards are intended to recognize individuals and institutions whose work has contributed meaningfully to Sierra Leone.

“After a period away, the National Achievement Awards are back,” Nasralla said.

He said the awards were built around recognizing people and organizations making a difference, while the committee would help protect the credibility and fairness of the selection process. He added that the structure should give recipients and the public confidence in the results.

Public nominations planned

Dr. Taqi said the committee would operate with independence, integrity and fairness. She explained that the process is expected to include public nominations, allowing Sierra Leoneans to identify individuals and institutions for consideration before the committee assesses their contributions.

According to Taqi, a nominee’s social class, region, religion, education, gender, skin colour or other background characteristics should not determine the outcome. “It’s about the work that you have done,” she said.

She also told committee members: “You should stand with the conscience and serve with the integrity that is expected of you.”

AWOL said the 2026 programme will reflect the importance of peace, national cohesion and a shared sense of purpose. Nasralla said the awards will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the late Ambassador Moseray Fadika, a former AWOL chairman.

AWOL outlines wider plans

Nasralla said the 2026 ceremony is expected to be shorter and better organized than previous editions, some of which continued late into the night. Details of the programme had not been formally announced at the time of the relaunch.

He also referred to AWOL’s second Annual General Meeting, held in December 2025 under the theme “Reigniting the AWOL Spirit: Rebuilding, Reconnecting and Repositioning for Impact.” According to Nasralla, the meeting adopted a new AWOL Global Constitution and reforms focused on governance, transparency, accountability and unity.

He cited AWOL’s support for Connaught Hospital, including the donation of an X-ray machine and a generator for the hospital’s X-ray department during a period of electricity challenges. AWOL members also volunteered to clean and paint the department, he said.

“It is not about waiting for somebody else to solve every problem. It is about asking what we can contribute and then doing it,” Nasralla said.

Yvonne Heroe, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, linked the awards to the wider national need for peace and reconciliation.

“National achievement can only be realized in the soil of peace,” Heroe said.

AWOL’s annual School Feeding and Awards Programme is expected to resume in 2027, according to Nasralla.