By Rima Armstrong
Published August 17, 2015
An anchor at Nairobi’s Kenya Television Network (KTN News) has won the inaugural BBC World News Komla Dumor Award.
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Nancy Kacungira, a Ugandan born in Tanzania, joined Kenya’s KTN in 2013 as an anchor for prime time news. Besides producing and presenting a weekly segment that tells stories of people working to better their local communities, Kacungira is KTN’s Social Media Editor. Nancy Kacungira presented for Power FM in Kampala prior to joining KTN.
Nancy Kacungira is expected to join BBC News teams in London for a three-month placement starting in September 2015. This placement provides the opportunity to gain skills and experience working with teams across BBC News on TV, radio and online.
Nancy said, “I am so greatly honoured and humbled to be the winner of this award. What I am most grateful for is the incredible opportunity given to me by the BBC to take my passion for African stories to the world stage and I look forward to reflecting the intriguing nuances of our continent in the story I will produce. I have always believed deeply and resolutely in the immense power and potential of Africa and Africans, and Komla Dumor was for me, one of the best examples of that; not just in his body of work, but in his personality too. To be a part of continuing his legacy is such an honour it feels almost like a dream!”
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Nancy Kacungira is said to have impressed the judges–BBC Global News Editor, Vera Kwakofi; BBC Foreign Editor, Andrew Roy; and the Editor for the Mail and Guardian in Africa, Charles Onyango-Obbo–with her well-rounded knowledge of the complex issues facing Africa and her awareness of the challenges involved in covering the continent. Her passion for telling Africa’s diverse stories and challenging preconceived stereotypes reflect Komla’s own devotion to the continent.
James Harding, Director of BBC News and Current Affairs, said, “When Komla Dumor died, it was an enormous loss to the BBC, to the coverage of Africa and to all of us personally. I am delighted that in Nancy we have found an extremely passionate and talented journalist, a worthy winner of the award that we established in Komla’s name.”
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Solomon Mugera, BBC Africa Editor, said: “We are delighted to award the BBC World News Komla Dumor award to Nancy Kacungira. I believe that Nancy’s passion for,and understanding of, African journalism truly embodies everything the BBC World News Komla Dumor Award has been set up to commemorate. We look forward to welcoming her to London.”
The award was set up in honour of Ghanaian presenter Komla Dumor who passed away in January 2014 and aims to continue his legacy by celebrating African journalism and finding exceptional talent.
