British High Commission rewards journalists

The winners of the second edition of the Investigative Journalism Contest were awarded attractive prizes recently.

Winners of the 2014 British High Commission Investigative Journalism Contest received their awards on Thursday May 14, 2015 in Yaounde in a ceremony presided over by the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary.

The contest organized by the NGO, Civil Initiatives for Development with Integrity, is an initiative of the British High Commission.

Yerima Kini Nsom (The Post) won the first prize for his article titled “Chop Broke-Pot” Allowances Anger Ordinary MPs. He bagged home one Galaxy tab of 16 GB and a cash prize of FCFA 500,000.

The winners of the second prize were co-authors of the same article. They are Sebastian Chi Elvido and Nicholas Vounsia of Mutations newsroom for the article titled “Ces Réfugies qui Mettent en Péril la Securité au Cameroun”.

They each got a Galaxy tab with a cash prize of FCFA 300,000 while the third winner was Boudhi Adams (The Post) for his article titled, “Who Owns These Lands”. He went home with a Galaxy tab and a cash prize of FCFA 180,000.

Speaking at the occasion, the British High Commissioner to Cameroon, H.E. Brian Olley said the competition which is in its second edition seeks to assist Cameroonian journalists and also to make sure that the press remains free and professional.

On his part, Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary on behalf of the government thanked the British High Commissioner for his support to the media in Cameroon. He called on the British High Commissioner to enlarge the offer so as to help make Cameroonian journalists be professional.

The award ceremony was preceded by a one-day training workshop on investigative reporting. The aim of the workshop was to enable the journalists master the roles of investigative journalism.

The journalists listened to presentations from speakers like Barrister Nico Halle on “The legal challenges in investigative journalism” and Christophe Bobiokono from the National Communication Council on “Ethics in Journalism”.