Two Kenyans Win CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Award

A story about an African tribe in India, long-forgotten and little-known, has garnered two Kenyan journalists the top prize at the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2012 Awards Ceremony.

Tom Mboya and Evanson Nyaga’s “The African Tribe in India,” which aired on Kenya’s Citizen Television, was selected from among 1,799 entries from 42 nations across the African continent on Saturday.

Mboya and Evanson, who were among 34 finalists for the top prize, also won the Television Features Award.

“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,” said Mboya, a senior news anchor for Citizen TV.

Nyaga now works for CCTV Africa, according to his bio.

“This story introduced the viewer to something new, an African tribe in India few know about,” said Joel Kibazo, a journalist and member of the judging panel. “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.”

Also recognized were Enenche Akogwu and Zakariya Isa with the Free Press Africa Award for their work in Nigeria. Isa, a cameraman for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), was killed in October 2011, and Akogwu, a news reporter with Channels Television, was shot and killed, having covered the Kano bomb blast in January.

The awards, which are held in a different African location each year, were hosted by CNN and MultiChoice in Lusaka, Zambia, and broadcast live on ZNBC.

Presenting the top award were Zambian Foreign Affairs Minister Given Lubinda; Nico Meyer, CEO MultiChoice Africa; and Parisa Khosravi, senior vice president for CNN Worldwide in charge of international newsgathering.

The awards were established in 1995 to encourage, promote and recognize excellence in African journalism.

UKZambians.com