Two Zimbabwean journalists are among the finalists for this year’s 20th CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards.
Publicity and public relations manager of MultiChoice Zimbabwe Liz Dziva said, “The inclusion Zimbabwean journalists was a landmark occasion and excitement would mount closer to the date of the awards ceremony in the hope of one of them winning the overall trophy as the continent’s top journalist for 2015.”
Ruth Butaumocho of The Herald and Boldwill Hungwe of the Zimbabwe Independent will be invited to attend the awards ceremony in Kenya in October.
This year the competition received entries from 39 countries across the continent, including French and Portuguese speaking Africans.
Below is the list of the finalists and their respective nationalities;
Ruth Butaumocho, The Herald, Zimbabwe
Boldwill Hungwe, Zimbabwe Independent, Zimbabwe
Fiifi Essilfie Anaman, Freelance for zonalsports.com, Ghana
Benedicta Asiimwe, Freelance for Daily Monitor, Uganda
Femi Asu, Punch Newspaper, Nigeria
Domingos Bento, redeangola.info, Angola
Thomas Naadi Bitlegma, Viasat1, Ghana
Sheriff Bojang Jnr, Freelance for West Africa Democracy Radio, Senegal
Ibrahima Diallo, Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS), Senegal
Adewale Olugbenga Emosu, tribuneonlineng.com, Nigeria
Chahinaz Samir Gheith, Freelance for Al-Ahram Hebdo, Egypt
Carla Gonçalves, A Nação, Cape Verde
Ibanga Isine, Premium Times Newspaper, Nigeria
Paul Kelemba, Freelance for The Standard on Saturday, Kenya
Deo Gratias Tchédé Kindoho, Radio Bénin, Benin
Julie Laurenz & Jacqueline Jayamaha, Freelance for e.tv, South Africa
Petride Mudoola, Freelance for Sunday Vision, Uganda
Abubakari Akida Mussa, Mtanzania Newspaper, Tanzania
Pedro Paxi Pereira Ndoma, TV Zimbo, Angola
George Oduor Otieno, Baraka FM, Kenya
Hyacinthe Boowurosigue Sanou, L’Observateur Paalga, Burkina Faso
Enock Sikolia & Charles Kariuki, NTV, Kenya
Arison Tamfu, Cameroon Journal, Cameroon
Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún, Blogger at ktravula.com, Nigeria
Arukaino Umukoro, Punch Newspaper, Nigeria
Bento Venâncio, Jornal Domingo, Mozambique
Herman Verwey, Beeld, South Africa
Kiundu Waweru, The Standard on Saturday, Kenya
Sarah Wild, Mail & Guardian, South Africa
The independent judging panel, chaired by Ferial Haffajee, Editor-in-Chief, City Press, South Africa, includes Debo Adesina, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian Newspapers, Nigeria; Nima Elbagir, Senior International Correspondent, CNN; Jean-Paul Gérouard, Editor-in-Chief, France Télévisions ; Fernando Gonçalves, Editor, Savana, Mozambique; Anton Harber, Caxton Professor of Journalism, University of the Witwatersrand; Joel Kibazo, Director of Communications and External Relations, African Development Bank Group; Amadou Mahtar Ba, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, AllAfrica Global Media; Wanja Njuguna, Senior Lecturer, Polytechnic of Namibia & CNN Journalist of the year 2000; José Sebastião Paulo, Professor of Journalism, University Agostinho Neto, Angola; and, David Ohito, Digital Editor, The Standard Media Group, Kenya.
The competition is supported by A24 Media, African Development Bank, Dow, Ecobank, GE, IPP Media and MSD.
The finalists will enjoy an all-expenses-paid four-day programme of workshops, media forums and networking in Nairobi, culminating in a Gala Awards Ceremony and winners from previous years will join this year’s finalists for a special evening to celebrate 20 years of the awards.
Ms Dziva said: “Feedback from the judging panel was that the quality and depth of entries was testimony to the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards position as the most prestigious accolades in journalism in Africa.
MultiChoice Zimbabwe has been delighted to once again be associated with these prestigious awards that give respect to the work done by journalists across the African continent. We are joining all MultiChoice management and staff across the continent in congratulating all the finalists on their achievements and look forward to celebrating with the winners in Nairobi in October.”