22 July 2008
Namibian freelance writer John Grobler walked away with this year's CNN business and economics award for his story linking local gems to the Mafia in Italy.
The story, published last year in The Namibian, was described as a dramatic recipe that included the founding President Sam Nujoma's son in business with a Mafioso wanted in Italy.
"After years of dogged work, Grobler revealed that don Vito Palazzolo and his Namibian-based associates owned a string of companies seeking to cash in on the gem trade.
With the history of Sierra Leone in sharp relief, the judges praised Grobler for this watchdog work in ensuring that diamonds are not bloodied," a statement issued by CNN award organisers said.
The judges said the diamond resource curse must be turned to a development boom and Grobler's piece showed journalists could be part of the quest.
The front-page story, published in The Namibian on March 23 last year, said the Sicilian Mafia used front companies to buy existing but unused diamond buying, cutting and polishing licences in Namibia and had allegedly obtained an interest in Namibia's fledgling diamond-cutting industry.
The overall winner of this year's CCN journalism awards was Zimbabwean Hopewell Rugoh-Chin'ono.
Rugoh-Chin'ono, founder and film director for Television International, Zimbabwe, won for his story 'Pain In My Heart', which was chosen from among 1 912 entries from a record 44 nations across the African continent.
He was also the category winner in The Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation Award for Excellence in HIV-AIDS reporting in Africa.
"Hopewell Rugoho-Chin'ono is the overall winner of the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Award 2008, because in a continent where resources are a great problem in telling the story, he overcame this major difficulty, with a nose and a passion to tell the story.
He goes on to tell the story in a compelling and sympathetic manner.
A good nose and a passionate heart, that's what makes him the overall winner," said the chairperson of the judging panel, Azubuike Ishiekwene.
The independent judging panel included the likes of Ferial Haffajee, Editor-in-Chief of the Mail & Guardian in South Africa, and Kim Norgaard, CNN's Johannesburg Bureau Chief.
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