This archive report was first published on 9 July 2020.
Kenyan Creative Wins Sh500,000 in AU-Sponsored Challenge ¶
On July 9, 2020, the inaugural Boma of Africa Virtual Festival celebrated Africa's brightest artistic talents, spearheaded by the African Union Commission and the AfroChampions Initiative.
The festival featured a Creative Challenge that explored and celebrated the journey towards Africa's future through various artistic mediums. Works examined themes including unity, science, the future, and globalization.
Among the winners was Kenya's Peter Wambua, who was awarded Sh500,000 for Literary Excellence. Wambua's captivating literature in prose and poetry opened up new vistas of African possibility.
Wambua was unaware of the good news and was pleasantly surprised when Nairobi News reached him for a comment.
"Wah poetry yangu imeshinda. Niko shocked niliandika iyo piece in like 10 minutes. Jana nilijaribu kufollow hiyo awards but sikumalizia. Wacha nicheki coz bado nafeel kama ni prank," Wambua said.
The award was virtually presented to Wambua by Ghanaian Poet Nii Ayikwei Parkes.
Other winners included Sinenkosi Msomi Eswatini, who won Sh1.5 million in Social Justice, and Bertha Munthali from Malawi, who was awarded Sh1 million Prize for African Renaissance.
"We would like to sincerely congratulate all the winners on their fantastic achievements, and for creating artworks that speak to Africa's unity and future," said Edem Adzogenu, Chairperson of AfroChampions Executive Committee.
The festival highlighted the new African economic order, following an agreement by the African Heads of State to establish the yearly commemoration during an Assembly of the Africa Union session in 2019.
