14-Year-Old Christiana Wehle Awiah Emerges Winner in Northern Region Girls in ICT Competition

Christiana Wehle Awiah, a 14-year-old JHS 2 student from St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Junior High in Tamale, emerged as the winner of the highly contested Northern Region Girls in ICT Competition, surpassing 1000 other participants who underwent training in various ICT skills, including coding and website development.

In recognition of her outstanding performance, Christiana was presented with a laptop, a prestigious plaque, a certificate of participation, and a cash prize.

In a brief statement, she expressed her elation and conveyed her determination to make her headmistress proud for believing in her capabilities.

She explained that though she had always enjoyed exploring computers, the competition allowed her to venture into coding for the first time.

“How wonderful I felt knowing I can instruct the computer to create games, animations, stories, and websites,” she said.

Christiana credited the training for honing her critical thinking skills, enabling her to approach problem-solving methodically.

“Before last week, my desire was to be a lecturer in human languages but with this exposure, I intend to explore the possibility of lecturing in computer languages. Girls-in-ICT has really aligned with my aspirations,” she expressed with enthusiasm.

The young tech prodigy extended her heartfelt gratitude to the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, for expanding the Girls in ICT initiative to reach girls in the Northern Region.

“Thanks to Girls in ICT, my 999 friends and I learnt of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and its related careers. Because you believed in us, I want to promise on behalf of my friends, Hon. Minister, that we have accepted the challenge to take up STEM-related careers. Hon Ursula, we shall surely make you proud”.

Christiana also took the opportunity to thank the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, the Regional Minister, Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA’s), Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), MTN Ghana, Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (KACE), Regional and District Education Officers, teachers, and parents for their unwavering support throughout the program.

Story by Emmanuel Oteng Agbley