Herald Correspondent
Thirteen Zimpapers journalists won awards in 18 categories at last night’s National Journalism and Media Awards (Njama).
Njama is an annual event coordinated by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), in partnership with several sponsors.
The 2021/2022 Njama awards ceremony was held in Harare last night.
Ivan Zhakata, Enacy Mapakame and Memory Mangombe who work for The Herald scooped awards.
Zhakata was the first runner-up in the Yasser Arafat Journalist of the Year category, which was scooped by Tendai Makaripe, a freelance journalist while Memory Chamisa from ZBC was the second runner-up.
Mapakame was also the runner-up in the Farming and Conservation Reporter of the Year category, which was scooped by Takudzwa Chihambakwe of Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN).
The Herald’s Memory Mangombe was runner-up in the Multimedia Journalist of the Year, which was won by Thandiwe Garusa of NewZimbabwe.com.
Another Zimpapers journalist with ZTN, Sharon Munjenjema, was runner-up in the Human Rights of the Year category, which was won by Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu from The Chronicle.
Thandeka was also runner-up in the Maternal Health Journalist of the Year that was scooped by Phil Jambaya of Zimnow.
Nqobile Tshili, again from The Chronicle, scooped the Local Tourism Journalist of the Year award, with Adelaide Moyo from The Financial Gazette being the runner-up.
Tshili also bagged the Sino-Zim Relations Journalist of the Year with Miriam Mangwaya of Alpha Media Holdings being the runner up.
Tshili was runner-up in the News Journalist of the Year category won by Theophilus Chuma of ZBC.
Gibson Mhaka from The Chronicle emerged runner-up in the Information, Communication and Technology Journalist of the Year category, which was won by Adelaide Moyo of FinGaz.
Mhaka was also a runner-up in the Gender Based Violence Journalist of the Year category won by Moses Mugugunyeki from AMH.
Veronica Gwaze from The Sunday Mail was the runner-up in the Agriculture Journalist of the Year category, which was scooped by Mkhululi Ncube from The Chronicle.
In a speech read on his behalf, the guest of honour Mr Edward Kallon, who is the United Nations resident coordinator, said the media play a critical role in the development of communities and countries at large.
“We have a great working relationship with the media, as the United Nations. We support sustainable development through this cooperation. The media plays a critical role in making sure that this is achieved.
“Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and media freedom has enabled new ways to communicate in Zimbabwe including newsprint, broadcast and the internet, among others.
“The media must remain professional and responsible in imparting information at all times,” he said.
Mr Geoff Nyarota, who led the panel of adjudicators, said they had 192 entries spread across 18 categories.
“The standard of the portfolios submitted was of high quality. It turned out to be a gruesome experience for the judges to come up with the winners but we were particularly impressed by the quality of the multimedia submitted,” he said.
Senior Government officials, diplomats and captains of industries, among others, attended the ceremony.
