Meet the winners of My Corruption-Free Africa!

The judges have convened, the votes are in, and the winners have been chosen. Our inaugural My Corruption-Free Africa blogging and photographic competition drew over 100 entrants from Kenya and Cameroon to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

The competition was open to youth across Africa, and the winners, chosen entirely on merit, are two young men and two young women, from four different African nations – a happy balance. Thirteen entries made it to the final round, but there could be only one winner – and it’s Wise Ngasa from Cameroon. His moving fictional story, Clo goes to School, highlights the corruption that takes place in schools in his country.

The runner up is our own Mapaseka Setlhodi, a UCT student. She impressed the judges with her innovative short story-essay on the state of our democracy in South Africa.

Joint third place winners, Narissa Allibhai from Kenya, and Oluwamayowa Idowu from Nigeria, both presented compelling pictures of corruption in their respective countries.

Follow the links below to read their entries,

The motivation for launching the Pan-African writing competition was to hear the stories and experiences of youth from around the continent, to highlight the extent to which corruption threatens to rob young people of their future, and complicates their lives today.

In the final judging session, attention was given to the quality and content of the thirteen fictional stories and essays that made it to the last round, out of more than 100 entries, with the result that young people from four different countries have emerged as overall winners.

Congratulations to our winners, and well done to all our entrants. We respect and admire your interest in and awareness of the scourge of corruption, and we hope you’ll take that enthusiasm forward in ways that will make a positive difference to the continent!