RSF’s brand new Mohamed Maïga Prize, launched with actress and director Aïssa Maïga, supports investigative journalism in Africa
Created by the Mohamed Maïga Association in partnership with RSF, the Mohamed Maïga Prize celebrates African investigative journalists who follow in the footsteps of journalist Mohamed Maïga — who disappeared 40 years ago — by covering issues such as human rights, the environment, education and the right to information.
This year's Mohamed Maïga Prize for African Investigative Journalism joins RSF’s prestigious awards for courage, impact, and independence, and RSF’s Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photo Prize.
The awards ceremony, hosted by journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro, will be held in Washington DC on 3 December. Other speakers at the ceremony include Michel Martin, Emmy Award-winning journalist, host of NPR's “Morning Edition” and contributor to PBS's “Amanpour & Company”, and Aïssa Maïga, a renowned French actress and director, and daughter of the courageous Malian journalist Mohamed Maïga, who disappeared 40 years ago.
"My father was passionate about his profession, and very committed to the emancipation of the African continent. He stood alongside Captain Thomas Sankara in the early 80s in Burkina Faso. My father died on January 1st, 1984. He was poisoned for reasons that we still don’t know. And today, 40 years after his death, we’ve decided to pay tribute to him through the Mohamed Maïga Association, and the launch of the RSF’s Mohamed Maïga Prize for African Investigative Journalism. The prize seeks to support investigative journalism and press freedom on the African continent, values my father held dear.
"We are very proud to join forces with the Mohamed Maïga Association to honour the outstanding work of African investigative journalists, who cover issues such as human rights, the environment, and education. This is often dangerous work, and some of them risk their lives to carry it out, but it is essential to the right to information. We want to highlight their courage, their commitment and their contribution to this essential right.
The award honours the memory of Mohamed Maïga, an investigative journalist from Mali whose commitment to social justice in Africa made a lasting impression until his disturbing, untimely death in 1984.
The Mohamed Maïga Prize for African Investigative Journalism will be awarded each year for outstanding journalistic work that shows bravery and honesty in the quest for truth and the fight to uphold the public's right to be informed.
