New Vision's Ronald Mugabe and Geoffrey Mutegeki with their awards. Mutegeki was second in print human interst category

Kampala Sheraton Hotel was on Friday night the scene of jubilations as journalists from New Vision dominated the Uganda WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Media awards.

The glamour-filled event saw New Vision scoop five of the seven accolades available, cementing the media agency's place as a centre of journalistic excellence.

John Semakula, Francis Emorut and Ronald Mugabe won the investigative journalism category, multimedia and online category respectively.

However, the night belonged to Ronald Mugabe, who in addition to scooping two individual accolades, went on to win the overall award, walking home with more than sh6m in prize money.

Francis Emorut won in the multimedia category

Mugabe's feature on the plight of PWDs and how they have been left behind when it comes to provision of hygiene services in the country became the centerpiece of praise by judges, who hailed Mugabe for his excellent journalistic skills.

The article published under the title disabled and neglected chronicled the challenges disabled people in the country find as little effort is made to provide sanitation facilities like toilets to meet their unique needs.

The panel of judges led by veteran-editor-turned-media-trainer, John Baptist Wasswa, said they based their judgment on among others, audience engagement, journalistic skills, and innovation.

Waswa noted that unlike last year, the number of entrants increased both from Kampala and upcountry. He said there was also added interest from female journalists.

Ronald Mugabe won the overall award

Water ministry permanent secretary, Alfred Okot Okidi, who represented the minister, thanked participating journalists for showing interest in the initiative, adding that the awards are a way of appreciating outstanding media personalities for their excellence in the WASH sector.

Friday event was the second since the awards were started last year. According to Lydia Mirembe of International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), WASH awards are intended to increase motivation by the media in covering water, sanitation and hygiene issues.

Winners:

Overall Winner — Ronald Mugabe, New Vision

News Print Human Interest category — Ronald Mugabe, New Vision

Online Category — Ronald Mugabe, New Vision

Print Investigative — John Semakula and Ronald Mugabe, New Vision

Multimedia — Francis Emorut New Vision

TV category — Jamira Mulindwa, Spark TV

Radio Category — Javier Silas Omagor Step FM Mbale

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