John-Allan Namu Named Human Rights Defender of the Year

Investigative journalist and Africa Uncensored CEO John-Allan Namu was named the Human Rights Defender of the Year at the HRD awards gala on December 2.

At Africa Uncensored, Namu has helped Kenyans digest complex social issues plaguing the country with a mix of deeply researched multimedia content. The journalist was formerly a features editor and investigative reporter at KTN, where he worked on groundbreaking investigative reports alongside the current Nyali MP Mohammed Ali.

The gong was given “in recognition of your (Namu’s) extraordinary and outstanding contribution towards the promotion and protection of human rights by defending freedom of the media, access to information and main streaming the protection of journalists as human rights defenders”.

Thanking organizers for the honour, Namu stated that his journalism background made it a humbling moment.

“This is an unexpected but truly humbling award (given that I am a journalist). Deeply grateful and glad to stand shoulder to shoulder with human rights defenders,” he shared.

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Namu was congratulated by colleagues in media among other Kenyans for the award.

It was Namu’s latest accolade, with the journalist having previously won several awards for his journalism, including the 2015 journalist of the year award from the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), 2019 TRACE International award and 2019 Global Shining Light Award for his three-part documentary series, The Profiteers, and the 2009 CNN African Journalist of the year award.

The 39-year old Namu studied Journalism at the United States International University (USIU). In 2015, he left KTN in a bid to build an independent media voice of his own.

“……mainstream environment is just becoming smaller and smaller and that has to be said! Sometimes we editorialize where we should not and that is not what investigative journalism is about. You have to have the freedom to tell your stories,” he once stated in an NTV interview.

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