Kenyan journalist wins award for RVR graft expose

Kenya investigative journalist Patrick Mayoyo has bagged another award for his expose on how World Bank loans to Rift Valley Railways were stolen by a rail company in Kenya and Uganda.

The story, titled the Lunatic Express Files, was among stories that won accolades during the Norbert Zongo Investigative Journalism awards.

In the story, Mayoyo, a former deputy news editor with the Daily Nation, detailed how part of Ksh 17 billion (US$164 million) loans meant to improve RVR’s services by buying new locomotives was used on purchasing used ones that were modified at a cost of six times their value.

The story that won the merit award, revealed how development finance institutions supported companies using the world’s most secretive financial centres commonly known as tax havens and did not have proper mechanism in place to monitor loans they advanced to developing countries.

Mayoyo, now the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Reporter, also revealed that developing countries lose billions of dollars every year through tax avoidance and evasion.

The Nobert Zongo Investigative Journalism Prize is an award of excellence to reward the best works of Investigative journalism in Africa.

The prize aims to promote a journalism of investigation and research, on subjects related to political, economic, social and cultural life.

The award is named after Nobert Zongo who was the editor of the weekly newspaper L’Ind’ependant in Burkina Faso who dedicated his professional career to uncovering the truth.

He was assassinated in 1998, at the age of 49, while investigating allegations linking the brother of then Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaor’e, to a high-profile unresolved murder.

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The story revealed that most DFIs including the World Bank continue to face major challenges in measuring their overall development impact, and ensuring that the projects they fund do not harm communities in developing countries.

Following the revelations, the World Bank slapped sanctions against RVR and the Kenyan government has since cancelled the 25-year-old concession contract it had signed with RVR.

– The original version of this story appeared in the Daily Reporter.