KENYANS TOM MBOYA AND EVANSON NYAGA NAMED CNN MULTICHOICE AFRICAN JOURNALISTS 2012

Tom Mboya and Evanson Nyaga, from Kenya, have been awarded the top prize at this year’s CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2012 Awards Ceremony.

Tom and Evanson, won for their work ‘African Tribe in India’, which aired on Citizen TV, Kenya and was chosen from among 1799 entries from 42 nations across the African continent.

The work tells the story of an African tribe in India, long forgotten and little known about, based in Karnataka, Southern India.

Tom and Evanson were among the 34 finalists at the Awards ceremony on Saturday evening and were winners in the category ‘Television Features Award (TV60).’

The Awards, which rotate location each year in tribute to their pan-African credentials, were held at a Gala ceremony hosted by CNN and MultiChoice at Auditorium Hall, Government Complex Convention Centre, Lusaka, Zambia this evening, Saturday 21 July, and broadcast live on ZNBC.

Nico Meyer, CEO MultiChoice Africa, Parisa Khosravi, Senior Vice President for CNN Worldwide in charge of International Newsgathering, and Hon. Given Lubinda MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs, presented Tom and Evanson with the Award.

Tom Mboya said: “Journalism is a profession that allows you to go in, and then bring out what the world needs to know.  It is humbling that the Father Lord has brought us this.”

Evanson said: “I am truly humbled by this.”

Member of the judging panel, journalist and media consultant Joel Kibazo said: “This story introduced the viewer to something new, an African tribe in India few know about. The journalist took the viewer with him to India, and the village to speak to the tribe members. An all round detailed story that was well told.”

Parisa Khosravi, Senior Vice President for CNN Worldwide in charge of International Newsgathering, said “The men and women who enter these awards have become part of a community of excellence, representing the very best in journalism and maintaining the highest standards of journalistic integrity. Their resourcefulness and bravery in pursuing the story has my deepest admiration.”

Collins Khumalo, CEO MultiChoice South Africa said: “We salute the finalists and the winners of the 2012 awards. These journalists give a voice to Africa and help to make that voice heard around the world. We encourage journalists from around the African continent to continue to tell the stories of Africa – who knows, your story might be celebrated at the 2013 awards.”

Nico Meyer, CEO MultiChoice Africa, said: “Each year we are amazed at the growing number of entries we receive for the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Award and we continue to marvel at the growing quality of entries – a great indication of the talent and skills pool in the continent. All tonight’s winners should be very proud of their achievements and we wish them well as they advance to a higher level of global influence. The selfless nature of the trade often displayed in the work done by our journalistic community is once again to be commended and honoured. As MultiChoice we are committed to the empowerment of Africa’s communities, and telling stories of their lives to raise awareness of their plight is commendable. We salute all journalists and tonight’s winners for their contribution to the development of open and democratic societies, creating future hope for generations to come.”

The evening also recognised Enenche Akogwu and Zakariya Isa as this year’s recipients of the Free Press Africa Award, for their work in Nigeria. Zakariya, a cameraman for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), was killed in October 2011, and Enenche, a news reporter with Channels Television, was shot and killed, having covered the Kano bomb blast in January this year.

The CNN MultiChoice competition is now in its 17^th year. The prestigious sponsors include: A24 Media; African Development Bank (AfDB); The Coca-Cola Company; Ecobank; Ericsson; Intercontinental Hotel, Lusaka; IPP Media, Tanzania; MSD; Nokia; SuperSport; and UNICEF. 

The Awards’ 34 finalists from 12 countries enjoyed an all expenses paid five day programme of workshops, media forums, networking and had the opportunity to see some of the sights of Zambia.   

Ways to Watch the African Journalist Awards:  

Viewers across the continent and across the world will be able to watch the African Journalist Awards in the following ways:

• M-Net will broadcast the ‘Highlights Programme’ of the Award Ceremony on AfricaMagic on Sunday 29 July
• Broadcasters in 45 countries on the African continent will be transmitting the ‘Highlights Programme’ during August.

• Internationally, the ‘Highlights Programme’ will be shown on OBE TV in the UK, The Africa Channel in the United States / UK and on RTP Africa.

The overall CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2012 wins a substantial cash prize, a visit to CNN Centre in Atlanta, to attend the three week CNN Journalism Fellowship, along with the prize awarded to all category winners, which consists of a laptop computer, printer, Nokia 800 Lumia and a cash prize. 

www.cnn.com/africanawards

Winners in the individual competition categories are:

ARTS & CULTURE AWARD, presented by Mwambu Wanendeya, Vice President and Head of Communications, Ericsson sub Saharan Africa (Pty) Ltd. Winner: Andrew Mulenga, Freelance for The Post Newspaper, Zambia. Title: ‘In Mali, The Kora Is No One-Night Stand, It Requires Commitment’

Judge’s Citation: “Focussed around the importance of the relationship between people and their musical instruments, the story is well put together, full of colour and interesting to read. It just pulls you into one of the most amazing stories of African culture.”

DIGITAL JOURNALISM AWARD, presented by Shiv Shivakumar, Senior Vice President for India, Middle East and Africa, Nokia.