MTN Uganda on Tuesday announced Shs 36 million sponsorship for the 7th edition of Uganda National Journalism Awards, scheduled to take place on 14 December 2022 in Kampala.

The sponsorship entails a Gold package worth Shs 20 million to help in organizing the gala and cash prizes to four category winners, 1st and 2nd Runners up, worth UGX 16 million.

The Uganda National Journalism Awards held annually since 2014, are organised by the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) with sponsors and partners, to celebrate and raise the profile of journalism.

“We are thrilled to be supporting this event because we believe that the media plays a critical role in not only telling our (Uganda) story accurately both at home and abroad but also holding us accountable to those promises we make as a people in every sphere of our lives,” said Rhona Arinaitwe, Senior Manager – Corporate Communications at MTN Uganda during the award launch at Fairway Hotel in Kampala.

Arinaitwe said whereas MTN is happy to sponsor the awards, the telecom company will focus on awarding prizes to four categories of Business, Economy and Financial Reporting, Environmental Reporting, Sports Reporting and Features Reporting.

“We believe that by giving extra motivation to these categories, we will inspire more and more journalists to work even harder and present work that can compete with the best in the world thus positioning our talent to even deliver more for our country,” she said.

She said MTN Uganda as a business expects the media to tell their stories accurately and with authority, objectivity, impartiality and professionalism so that the people it serves can make informed decisions on their products and services.

Dr. George Lugalambi, the executive director at the ACME said the media fraternity is glad to receive MTN Uganda’s support towards the awards.

“We thank MTN Uganda and the other partners that have come on board to support this event,” he said. “This is the first time that we are organizing these awards with the support of the private sector.”

Dr Lugalambi reiterated that indeed the awards inspire journalists to go the extra mile to deliver stories that can contribute to the country’s social, economic and political transformation.

The Uganda National Journalism Awards has 20 categories touching various sectors and themes including Business, Economy and Financial Reporting, Agriculture Reporting, Sports Reporting, Political Reporting, Investigative Reporting, Extractive Reporting, and Health Reporting among others.

The awards are open to all journalists, freelance or full-time and independent content creators who submit their work – print, online and broadcast – to ACME for onward transmission to judges who comprise active or former journalists and journalism educators with several decades of experience.

Entries are judged based on the accuracy of the information, initiative and originality, clarity of interpretation, storytelling ability, public benefit or impact on society, audience engagement, innovation, and the journalist’s creative flair in a given format.

Each entry is read, watched or listened to carefully and thoroughly, and assessed with the scrutiny and rigour that are expected of the most anticipated journalism awards in the country.