28 Nov 2024

Local author, Winnie Mpala, has once again been honoured with a prestigious humanitarian excellence award at the Women With a Mission Recognition Awards (WWMRA) held at Sandton, South Africa, recently. 

Organised by the Woman With a Mission NPO and Mission Africa Organisation, the awards were designed to honour and celebrate African achievers across various sectors and professions and to  give them the opportunity to engage in various sector focused high-level dialogue. 

Mpala is a renowned writer who published a novel titled Lea’s Secret, which made waves and received multiple awards. 

The novel chronicles the experience of a young girl, Lea, who was sexually molested and kept her ordeal a secret.

Through the book, Mpala wanted to demonstrate the hard work required for victims to break the silence and live a normal life. 

The novel also earned her another prestigious award last year at the 6^th Global Annual African Honoree Authors’ Awards held in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

The African Authors’ Award is a brainchild of a motivational speaker and publisher, Anthea Thyssen-Ambursley of South Africa who has honoured more than 463 African authors in the past six years. 

Mpala’s same winning novel made her shine again on the international stage as she was recognised for her outstanding achievement and dedication to her work. 

Mpala, who is also the director of Timeless Voices Publishers, appreciated the award in an interview, saying it would inspire her to go an extra mile in her writing career and touch lives. 

The awards, she said, were conceptualised to acknowledge hard work, dedication and accomplishment of individuals and organisations that are making impactful contributions across Africa and beyond. 

“I was humbled and inspired to interact with high-level dignitaries. The ease with which we connected, bound by our shared love for this magnificent continent was nothing short of divine. Wherever I go, I ensure that I make impact and business connections as they can help offer guidance and assistance in case I face challenges,” she said. 

The awards, she said, amplified the voices and achievements of Africa leaders, fostering unity and inspiring future generations to break barriers and reach new heights. 

As a distinguished award recipient, Mpala was also invited to be part of the movement fusing African excellence together to build a greater continent as well as to elucidate more on plans and progressive angles for the youth to participate in community building, buttressing visions and plants to develop the continent. 

Meanwhile, Mpala recently  launched her company, Timeless Voices Publishers, along with two books; Silent echoes and Twin tails in Maun. 

Graced by both international and local authors as well as local artists, the event was filled with engaging activities, meaningful dialogue and debates. 

School-going children also had an opportunity to interact with professional authors. 

Mpala said her company would give local authors a voice in the literary scene and enable them to share ideas on writing. Ends