Vote opens for Samia Kalamu Awards 2026
DAR ES SALAAM: THE public voting for the second season of the Samia Kalamu Award 2026 officially opened yesterday and will run until September 30 this year.
The public engagement exercise allows citizens to vote for 294 candidates shortlisted by the award’s judges in various categories, including health, environment, energy, good governance and investment.
The initiative aims to promote professionalism and innovation among journalists while encouraging reporting that contributes to national development.
The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in early December this year. Speaking at a press conference yesterday in Dar es Salaam, Samia Kalamu Award’s Chairman, Engineer Peter Mwasalyanda, who doubles as the Director General of the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), said the public voting follows the comprehensive shortlisting of a total 294 works by the judges from 3,003 news articles which were submitted by about 985 participants.
He said the primary shortlisting was grounded in professionalism and creativity with great attention on early research articles, uses of multiple sources and reporting national agenda that enable the audience to make informed decision. He said the shortlisted contenders scored high marks.
Eng Mwasalyanda said the public voting provides an opportunity for citizens, as readers, viewers and listeners, to offer a second perspective based on their assessment of the news they consume, including the stories submitted for this year’s awards.
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“Public voting is an important part of the process of determining the winners, considering that citizens are the ones who consume the news. It gives them an opportunity to support the news stories they value and prefer,” Eng Mwasalyanda said.
He said voting, which began yesterday, can be done by visiting the designated voting website, www.samiaaward.tz, or by sending an SMS containing the contestant’s code number to 15200 via mobile phone.
The Samia Kalamu Award, officially established in 2024 and first presented in 2025, recognises journalists and media outlets for outstanding work that has made a significant contribution to communities and the nation at large.
The awards are organised by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) in collaboration with the Tanzania Media Women’s Association (TAMWA) and the Journalists Accreditation Board (JAB).
Tanzania Media Women’s Association’s (TAMWA) Executive Director Dr Rose Reuben, who doubles as the award’s co-chairperson, congratulated all journalists who submitted their works.
She noted the Samia Kalamu Award’s managerial team received a considerable number of news articles and were all evaluated closely by the technical team of judges.
