The Namibian Investigative Unit journalists walked away with four awards at the Editors’ Forum of Namibia (EFN) 2024 Journalism Awards in Windhoek on Thursday.
The event was attended by minister of information and technology Emma Theofelus, veteran editor and journalist Gwen Lister, the academic and architect of the Windhoek +30 Declaration, and various local editors.
The Namibian journalists were nominated in all eight categories, with the investigative unit, headed by Shinovene Immanuel scooping four awards.
Investigative unit journalist Sonja Smith won the journalist of the year award alongside Freddie Clayton and Margaret Courtney-Clarke. Smith also received an award in the education, health and social development category with Petrus Muronga.
Two awards were given to investigative unit journalist Timo Shihepo, including the politics and good governance award and another for agriculture, environment, forestry, and fisheries.
Former investigative unit journalist Esther Mbathera was awarded the economic journalism award. In her speech, Mbathera dedicated the award to three other journalists.
“This award is dedicated to two other journalists, as it was co-authored by me, Lazarus Amukeshe, and Andreas Thomas. I would like to say to all the journalists who did not enter, thinking that it was not enough: when you do your stories, do not do them to be recognised, but because they matter to the community out there. When you write, your story should make a difference in the community,” she said.
Sheefeni Nikodemus, who won the sports journalist award, expressed similar sentiments to Mbathera.
“My dear journalists, keep writing with the idea that you want to make a difference in your community, not just because you want to win. I am grateful for this award,” he said.
According to EFN’s Toivo Ndjebela, there were 52 entries from 24 journalists for this year’s awards.
FNB Namibia announced a sponsorship of N$250 000 towards the organisation of this year’s Editors’ Forum of Namibia Journalism Awards.
The sponsorship supported organising the awards, which includes cash prizes for winners in two categories: business and finance journalist of the year and journalist of the year.
In a statement, FNB Namibia described itself as a strong advocate of press freedom and recognised journalism’s critical role in an independent and democratic Namibia.
Other sponsors at the awards included Ohlthaver & List Group, Old Mutual, Bank of Namibia, and Cecil Nurse. Additional sponsors included Bosman, African Marketing, and Signarama.
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