By HumFOZ Reporter
Multi-award winning journalist and fact checker, Tatenda Prosper Chitagu, has added another feather on his cap.
Chitagu, who co-founded the Humanitarian Media Focus on Zimbabwe (HuMFOZ), as well as the Zimbabwe Tracker Trust (ZimTracker), a media literacy and fact-checking organization, has bagged the prestigious Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence (ACE) Award.
The ACE awards are named after the Amir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, who presided over the awards at a colourful ceremony held in Doha, Qatar, in December.
Chitagu, an associate of Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism, was selected as a joint winner with another Oxpeckers associate Andiswa Matikinca in the Innovation / Investigative Journalism category for their ground-breaking investigations on cross-border lithium smuggling.
‘I feel humbled and honoured by this special recognition, and I want to thank the organizers of the award, my sources, family, friends and above all the Almighty God for this award,” Chitagu, who has been a fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) at the University of Oxford, said.
The ACE award adds to his loaded trophy cabinet. In 2015, Chitagu was named the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) Best Human Rights Defender Journalist of the Year. In 2016, he won the Haller Prize for Development Journalism in Africa. In 2019, he bagged the UNICEF Zimbabwe Child journalist of the year award. In 2020, Chitagu was the second prize winner in the Isu Elihle African Children’s Awards sponsored by Media Monitoring Africa. In 2021 he landed the Best National Mining Reporter of the Year Award. The following year, Chitagu won the National Environmental journalist of the Year Award which was sponsored by the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association.
In 2023, he was adjudged the Best National Environmental Reporter of the year again in awards sponsored by Environment Africa, Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) and The Institute for Sustainability Africa (INSAF)
Last year, Chitagu was named the Best National Lithium Reporter in the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines awards, and also a runner up in the Amnesty International Environmental Human Rights Journalist of the Year Awards.
Amir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, poses for a picture with Chitagu after handing him a trophy (Pic sourced from Qatar Tribune)
The Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award is presented ‘in recognition and appreciation of those who have contributed to the global campaign against corruption.’
According to the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Centre (ROLACC), which administers the ACE awards, ‘the award advocates for the importance of tackling corruption and encourages the implementation of the crucial measures set forth by the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.’