Winners of the Safal Kiswahili Prize for Africa 2024 unveiled in Dar
DAR ES SALAAM: THE Committee for Safal Kiswahili Prize for African Literature has announced winners of the 2024 competition at a colourful ceremony held at the University of Dar es Salaam with Tanzanians walking away with most of the prizes.
The prize, which was established by Dr Lizzy Attree and Dr Mukoma Wa Ngugi in 2014 to recognise writing in African languages and encourage translation from, among and into African languages, is sponsored by SAFAL Group through ALAF Tanzania and Mabati Rolling Mills-Kenya.
The winner in the Novels category is Mayasa Abdalla (Tanzania) who received $5000 through his master piece, ‘Kitanzi cha Mauti
The first runner up in that category was Ali Othman Masoud (Tanzania) who walked home with $2500 through hispiece ‘Nyaraka za Wafu’.
Bashiru Abdalla (Tanzania) who submitted a piece that goes by title ‘Bure Ghali’ emerged victorious in the Poetry category and received $5000 while the first runner up, Mohamed Idrisa (Tanzania) won $2500 through his piece -‘Laana ya Uovu’
Edwin Omindu from Kenya walked away with $2500 after he was announced as the winner in the Short Stories category through his piece– ‘Mungu Hadanganywi’
Gracing the occasion, the Minister for Information, Culture, Art and Sports,, Prof. Palamagamba Kabudi lauded all the winners and thanked SAFAL Group for being on the Frontline in promoting Kiswahili.
“The competition has indeed grown and attracted more participants including from outside Africa hence we have every reason to be proud of this unique language and embrace it with both hands, he said.
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He further noted that the Government will continue investing more in ensuring Kiswahili is well popularized as it is currently used in most African countries and some Europeans countries where it is taught in higher learning institutions hence a good job creating opportunity for Tanzanians.
He lauded Mkuki na Nyota Publishers and Africa Poetry Book for volunteering to publish the winning pieces and called on other institutions to follow suit.
ALAF Tanzania CEO, Mr Ashish Mistry, said Safal Group, which owns ALAF Tanznaia and Mabati Rolling Mills in Kenya, has continued sponsoring the award due to the fact that it has been growing year after year and the importance of Kiswahili in promoting unity and trade among nations.
The Chairperson of 2024 competition judges, Dr Salma Hamad, of the Open University of Tanzania-Zanzibar said: “The number of entries was overwhelming, but we were well entertained because we read creatively written and crafted manuscripts and learned that there is a huge treasure of Kiswahili literary talents. If developed, Kiswahili literature will not go bankrupt.”
On his part, the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Prize, Abdilatif Abdalla, added: “It is very gratifying to see that since the competition was launched in 2015, this prize continues attracting many participants from various countries. The level of the quality of entries competing also is increasing every year, thereby enriching Kiswahili literature.
Other judges who joined Dr Hamad in reading and selecting the winners of the 2024 competition were Prof Richard Wafula from Kenyatta University, Kenya, and Dr Caesar Jjingo from Makerere University, Uganda. A total number of 210 manuscripts was read by a panel of judges.
