Last week, I travelled to Uganda for the first time, courtesy of MultiChoice Africa, to conduct media training for their country managers.
We were there over the weekend, and were privileged to be guests at the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Awards, held at the luxurious Kampala Serena Hotel on Saturday, May 29.
The who’s who of African journalism were at the awards, which attracted more than 2 000 entries from 42 countries. We were very proud when a South African, e.tv’s Sam Rogers, won the overall award, African Journalist of the Year, for her TV piece on albinos in Tanzania who are literally hunted for their skin. In her acceptance speech, Rogers said that more than 50 albinos have been murdered in Tanzania in the past year, most of them by people seeking their body parts for muti. Hopefully, Rogers’ award will help to highlight and halt this horrific practice.
This is the second time Rogers has won the African Journalist of the Year Award – she won it back in 2001, with co-journalist Jacques Pauw, who is the only other person to have won it twice (in 2000, along with Wanja Njunga-Githinji from Kenya and Adil Bradlow from South Africa) since the awards’ inception in 1995.
Ugandan President Yoseri Museveni, who has been in power since 1984 and has his own press corps, gave the keynote speech, in which he claimed there is “abundant” press freedom in Uganda.
I asked a Ugandan journalist later that night if the freedom was so abundant he could write that Uganda could do better for a president, and it was perhaps time for Museveni to move on. He said he could indeed write that sort of thing, but that the police would arrest him the next morning. Although fighting for media freedom is a daily struggle all over the world, it made me reflect how free the media are in South Africa, relative to some other African countries.
The other award winners were:
Environment Award: Uganda’s Halima Abdallah K, for her story on Uganda’s national bird, the crowned crane, which is facing extinction.
Digital Journalism Award (an inaugural award this year): South Africa’s Daily Dispatch, for its coverage of slumlords in East London
Arts and Culture Award: Kofi Akpabli from Ghana, for a humorous story about soup and how it relates to culture.
Economics and Business Award: Kaara Wainaina and Francis Mugo Mwangi of Kenya.
TV News Bulletin Award: Kenya’s Roseline Wangui and Charles Mwangi for their piece on children trying to get an education in Kenya.
MSD Health and Medical Award: Teresa Chirwa from Malawi.
Portugese General News Award: Sebastiao Vemba, from Angola, for a story about a police crushing protest.
Free Press Africa Award (according to the programme, “The Free Press Africa Award seeks to recognize a journalist, or group of journalists, whose work enhances the cause of media freedom in their country and demonstrates courage, integrity and initiative.”): Somalian broadcaster Mustafa Haji Abdinir, the co-founder of Somalia’s Simba Radio and founder of Somalia Media for Peace and Development. Nine Somalian journalists were killed in 2009.
HIV/AIDS Reporting Award: Lucas Ledwaba, from South Africa’s Drum magazine. Ledwaba dedicated his award to those fighting the disease.
Radio General News Award: Kassim Mohamed from Kenya, for a story on sea pirates.
Print General News Award: Emmanuiel Mayah of Nigeria’s Daily Sun, for a story on illegal migrants making their way from Nigeria to Europe.
Television Features Award: Sam Rogers of South Africa’s e.tv, for her story, Curse of the Nowhere People, on albino people in Tanzania being hunted for their skin.
Francophone Print Journalism Award: Alexandre Lebel Ilboudo, Le Patriot, Ivory Coast.
Francophone TV and Radio Award: Najlae Benmbarek, Morocco.
Mohamed Amin Photographic Award: Kenya’s Boniface Mwangi, for his haunting photo-story on the African child.
Sport Award: Leon Ssenyange from Uganda, for his story about blind boxers.
Tourism Award: Nigeria’s Pelu Awefeso.