AfricaNews honours SaloneJamboree founder
AfricaNews reporter, Murtala Mohamed Kamara (photo), is among five journalists in the continent that have won euro 100 each for their contributions to Holland based news agency AfricaNews for the month of February.
Murtala was named the Best Reporter of the month.
 “Once again we are rewarding 5 reporters with 100 euro each for their contributions in the past month. Kent Mensah and Joseph Appiah Dolphyne decided (in consultation with the Amsterdam office) on five writers whom they would like to stimulate with a fee,†the editorial team announces in their monthly newsletter. 

The announcement states further: “Murtala Mohamed Kamara (Sierra Leone) has been in the fold for a very long time and his contribution to the website has been significant despite ill health over the months. Besides writing, he maintains consistent correspondence with the editorial team about what he is up to.’’
“It’s a good thing that people appreciate your work. I feel honored that my contributions were highly regarded. I love writing and I love writing for the internet because it is immediate and has wider readership. And I just realized that it has become my hobby,†Murtala says.
Murtala believes “the internet is the future of mass communication and there are lots of possibilities there tooâ€. He says his area of specialty is entertainment and enjoys playing lawn tennis.
Other winners include Sam Banda Junior, (Malawi), Nangayi Guyson (Uganda), Abdilatiff Maalim (Kenya) and Glorea Bentil (Ghana).Â
AfricaNews was set up in 2006 to get real life stories directly from African reporters and also to counter the negative western media portrayal of the continent. Since its establishment the website has more than one thousand reporters from more than eighty cities throughout Africa. It has gained popularity for its award winning mobile reporting where in reporters with specially made Nokia mobile phones can upload their stories directly on the website without the need for any internet connection.
Murtala’s two years contract with AfricaNews came to an end in November 2009. He started as a contributor from his home country and due to his hard work and dedication he was asked, after impressively covering the 2007 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, to serve as West Africa regional reporter. During those years he wrote extensively, including stories on the Niger-Delta crisis, Al Qeada in West Africa, religious clashes, drug trafficking, the political crisis in Guinea, war, sports and entertainment. He has interviewed world famous stars including Akon, P-Square and Isaiah Washington.
Murtala helped established the UK based award winning quarterly magazine the Cotton Tree (now defunct). He’s currently the Director of Communication for Young Leaders-SL, and founder and CEO of www.salonejamboree.com. The website was officially launched in May 2008 by the Hon. Deputy Minister of Information and Communication to showcase Sierra Leone’s untapped entertainment industry and also to provide timely information on the industry.
Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
© 2010, https:. All rights reserved.
