Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Rwanda: High-impact investigative journalism celebrates success

19/12/2023

An innovative investigative training programme for Rwandan journalists has resulted in the publication of 15 impactful stories which have prompted widespread changes in the country.

One report into overcrowding in prisons accelerated judicial reform whilst an investigation into the safety of meat led to a public inquiry. A further investigation exposed how a multi-million pound irrigation scheme in Rwanda risks failure after money went missing.

These stories not only contribute to a more informed public but also serve as a testament to the effectiveness of empowering journalists with the necessary skills and resources. Here are some of the success stories in more detail.

Investigative journalist John-Allan Namu leads a training session

Overcrowding in Rwandan prisons

Fulgence Niyonagize, a freelance journalist at Pax Press, delved into the issue of overcrowding in Rwandan prisons which ranks the second highest in the world after the United States.

Fulgences investigation revealed that a major contributing factor is the practice of detention without trial. The report also shed light on the broader societal impact by exposing the economic repercussions faced by the families of those incarcerated.

In response to the expos , the judiciary pledged to expedite crucial judicial reforms aimed at addressing the overcrowding crisis. One significant proposal involves providing alternative sentences to imprisonment, especially in cases where the offender poses no serious risk to the public and is amenable to rehabilitative or therapeutic interventions.

I developed a profound understanding of the pivotal role that investigative stories play in identifying solutions in society

Emmanuel Dushimimana Ngabo

Safety of meat consumed by the public Its a testament to the impact of quality journalism training that the Rwandan government opened a public inquiry into the safety of meat for public consumption after an investigation by Emmanuel Dushimimana Ngabo, a journalist at Isangano Community Radio in Rwanda.

I developed a profound understanding of the pivotal role that investigative stories play in identifying solutions for our society, says Emmanuel, who credits Thomson Foundation for providing him with advanced skills in investigative reporting.

After the publication of his groundbreaking story into claims that farmers were using HIV medication (ARVs) to fatten animals, the Rwandan parliament launched a public inquiry on October 17, 2023.

Ministers including the ministers of trade and local government were summoned to address the pressing issues raised in Emmanuel's report with parliament actively seeking solutions to ensure the safety of publicly available meat.

The training opened up many opportunities for me to enhance my skills

Nadine Umuhoza

Future of irrigation scheme I have gained more knowledge in investigative storytelling, says Nadine Umuhoza, a journalist at Bridge Rwanda Magazine. Her story showed how a multi-million irrigation scheme in Rwanda risked failure after millions of francs meant for the maintenance of irrigation equipment went missing, jeopardising the livelihoods of numerous farmers.

This training opened up many opportunities for me to enhance my skills because I was also selected to attend a training on investigating financial environmental crimes in Naivasha, Kenya, she adds. I am grateful to Legal Aid Forum, Thomson Foundation, and the US Embassy in Rwanda for their support, which has motivated me to focus my work on investigative stories projects.

First-class training The year-long programme run by Thomson Foundation and our local partner The Legal Aid Forum was supported by the US Embassy in Rwanda. It equipped journalists with robust investigative journalism skills and a comprehensive understanding of the profession, enabling them to produce public interest, reliable, impartial, and wide-reaching content.

The objective of the training was to ensure this cohort of Rwandan journalists began to familiarise themselves with the basic principles of investigative journalism, says John-Allan Namu, a renowned Kenya-based investigative journalist who was the lead trainer.

John-Allan Namu

The training was not highly technical, rather, it focused on ensuring that journalists have a more complete understanding of their profession and its evolving role in the public space, he adds.

To encourage collaboration among journalists, the programme provided story production grants, creating opportunities to address the most pressing issues facing Rwanda.

Crucially, the programme also extended free legal support to journalists working in the country, ensuring they receive assistance in the event of legal challenges or prosecution relating to their work. It's hoped this commitment will contribute to fostering an environment where journalists can fearlessly pursue investigative journalism.

Global exposure for outstanding journalists The selection of Fulgence Niyonagize, Emmanuel Dushimimana Ngabo, and Yvonne Mutatsineza to attend this year's Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Sweden is a testament to their outstanding work and the success of the programme in identifying and nurturing talent.

The programme also showcases the potential for transformative change when media professionals are equipped with the right skills and knowledge to tackle complex issues. The impact of these investigative stories is expected to resonate not only locally, but also on a broader scale, contributing to the global conversation on responsible journalism.

More great journalism

Investigative journalism exposes new scandals

Backing brave journalism in challenging places

Yara El Murr is Young Journalist of the Year 2023

Berna Namata Editorial Associate

Berna is Thomson Foundations Rwanda and Central Africa specialist.

Ex
LINK: http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/latest/rwanda-high-impact-investigati...
See more stories from thompsonfoundation

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

21/05/2026

CBS Sports Expands WNBA Tip-Off Show To Cover Half of 20-Game, Regular-Season Package

Game Creek Video Columbia and Celtic, NEP Supershooter 8 will house onsite produ...

21/05/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Christina Zelin, Rowan University

Freshly graduated, this upstart producer, director, and camera operator is already working as an AP on videoboard shows for the Philadelphia Phillies In the li...

21/05/2026

Media Links Announces Channel Partnership with Clearcast Asia Ahead of BroadcastAsia 2026

Media Links has announced a channel partnership with Clearcast Asia, a broadcast...

21/05/2026

SiriusXM and NASCAR Announce Multi-Year Broadcasting Agreement Renewal

SiriusXM and NASCAR have announced a multi-year renewal of their broadcasting agreement. SiriusXM will continue to carry live broadcasts of every NASCAR Cup Ser...

21/05/2026

Audio-Technica Hosts High-Density Wireless Microphone Demo at Technica House in New York City

Audio-Technica held a demonstration event at its Technica House location in New ...

21/05/2026

RTL Deutschland Selects Ateme Frame-Rate Conversion Technology for Live Event Workflows

Ateme has announced that RTL Deutschland has selected Ateme's software-based...

21/05/2026

BCC Live Deploys LiveU LU900Q for Record-Breaking IRONMAN Texas Broadcast

LiveU has announced that BCC Live deployed the LU900Q intelligent production unit for the first time during the 2026 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North Americ...

21/05/2026

Mark Aitken to Receive 2026 ATSC Mark Richer Industry Leadership Medal

ATSC has announced that Mark Aitken, President of ONE Media and Senior VP of Advanced Technology at Sinclair Broadcast Group, will receive the 2026 Mark Richer ...

21/05/2026

BBright Outlines MXL Integration Strategy for Software-Defined Broadcast Workflows

BBright has published a technical analysis of the Media eXchange Layer (MXL), de...

21/05/2026

Esports World Cup 2026 to Be Held in Paris, France

The Esports Foundation has announced that the 2026 Esports World Cup (EWC) will be hosted in Paris, France, from July 6 through August 23. The event marks the f...

21/05/2026

Chyron Announces PRIME Scorebug and Expanded Chyron LIVE Scorebug Capabilities

Chyron has announced PRIME Scorebug, a scorebug solution built on the PRIME Platform for on-premises sports production, and has expanded Chyron LIVE with purpos...

21/05/2026

Media Links Integrates Xscend Platform with DataMiner at BroadcastAsia 2026

Media Links has announced the integration of its Xscend IP transport platform with Skyline Communications' DataMiner xOps platform. The integration will be ...

21/05/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Nova Lume CEO Jim Casey on Bringing Flexible IP Intercom to Live Production

As live sports productions continue to demand more flexible, scalable, and cost-...

21/05/2026

SVG Rewind: ESPN's Use of POVORA Wireless Tilt Control CapCam Gives College Football Fans a First-Person View of the Game

In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into...

21/05/2026

Join Shade in Miami and Atlanta for Post-Production Networking Events

Hey Miami & Atlanta post-production folks! Shade is hosting a free private suite at a Braves game (6/2) and Marlins game (6/5) and have about a dozen extra tic...

21/05/2026

Phoenix Suns, Mercury, and Gray Media Extend Broadcast Partnership Through 2030

The Suns and Mercury become the first NBA and WNBA teams to make games available under a single broadcast partner across both over-the-air and streaming....

21/05/2026

Apple TV, MLS to Produce First Major Pro Sporting Event Shot Entirely on iPhone 17 Pros

iPhones are part of the the regular production rotation for Friday Night Baseba...

21/05/2026

SVG Rewind: AIQ: Where Data Meets Dirt Technology Brings Real-Time Data Analysis to Rodeo

In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into...

21/05/2026

Filmmakers' Favorites: Sundance Film Festival Alums on Welcome to the Dollhouse

Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener in Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse...

21/05/2026

Create, Control, and Personalize Your Listening Across Every Moment

Spotify has always been about helping you find something you want to listen to. And over the years, we've learned your taste and the moments that matter to ...

21/05/2026

You Know Every Song. We Saved You Two Tickets. Introducing Reserved.

Getting concert tickets today can feel like a race you're set up to lose. You show up at the right time, refresh endlessly, and still miss out. Too often, ...

21/05/2026

Books on Spotify: New Updates for Listeners and Authors

In 2022, Spotify entered a new chapter by introducing audiobooks to our platform. Since then, we've grown our catalog to include more than 700,000 titles, e...

21/05/2026

Investor Day 2026 Remarks From Spotify Co-CEOs Alex Norstrm and Gustav Sderstrm

Opening remarks ALEX Good morning everyone, I'm Alex [Norstr m]. GUSTAV And I'm Gustav [S derstr m]. ALEX Whether you've been following our j...

21/05/2026

Spotify's 2026 Investor Day Recap: Raising Ambition for the Next Era of Media

Today, Spotify hosted our third Investor Day in New York City, offering the fina...

21/05/2026

Spotifys Investor Day 2026: Ambitioniert in die nchste ra der Medien

Spotify hat heute seinen dritten Investor Day in New York City veranstaltet und der Finanzwelt tiefere Einblicke in das Gesch ft, die Produktstrategie und die l...

21/05/2026

Rcapitulatif de l'Investor Day 2026 de Spotify : Des ambitions renouveles pour la prochaine re des mdias

Aujourd'hui, Spotify a organis son troisi me Investor Day New York. En pl...

21/05/2026

Il riepilogo dell'Investor Day 2026 di Spotify: eleviamo le ambizioni per la prossima era dei media

Oggi, a New York City, Spotify ha presentato il suo terzo Investor Day, offrendo...

21/05/2026

Resumen del Investor Day 2026 de Spotify: elevando la ambicin para la prxima era de los medios

Hoy Spotify celebr su tercer Investor Day en Nueva York, donde ofrecimos a la c...

21/05/2026

Rangkuman Investor Day Spotify 2026: Meningkatkan Ambisi untuk Era Media Berikutnya

Hari ini, Spotify menyelenggarakan Investor Day yang ketiga di New York City, me...

21/05/2026

2026 (Investor Day):

2026 : (Investor Day) , , . ...

21/05/2026

2026 :

20 2026 ...

21/05/2026

Resumo do Investor Day 2026 do Spotify: elevando a ambio para a prxima era da mdia

Hoje, o Spotify realizou seu terceiro Investor Day em Nova York, oferecendo co...

21/05/2026

2026: Spotify

Spotify Investor Day ...

21/05/2026

Spotify'n 2026 Investor Day zeti: Medyann Yeni a in Byk Hedefler

Spotify bug n, 20'nci y l d n m m z kutlad m z bu y lda, finans camias na, i modelimiz, r n stratejimiz ve uzun vadeli vizyonumuz hakk nda daha detayl ...

21/05/2026

Cinematic Motion & Ethereal Flows for Sonuscore's The Score

Two new Story Packs join orchestral instrument line-up Sonuscore have just introduced two new additions to The Score, marking the instrument's first maj...

21/05/2026

Heavyocity release Oblivion Drums

30,000 samples, 99 presets & 504 loops Heavyocity are well known for their hard-hitting cinematic instruments, and their latest release is no exception to t...

21/05/2026

Rohde & Schwarz AI powered voice to data: The future of air traffic control takes flight at Airspace World 2026

Rohde & Schwarz AI powered voice to data: The future of air traffic control take...

21/05/2026

Redefining Persistent and Affordable Airpower for Special Operations Forces

SKY RAIDER II INTERNATIONAL's modular open systems architecture delivers expanded operational reach and mission flexibility....

21/05/2026

From Payload to Platform: Autonomous ISR Where It Actually Matters

ASO-enabled WESCAM MX-10 systems conduct systematic wide-area maritime search patterns, autonomously managing sensor scan operations to expand coverage, reduce ...

21/05/2026

Sports content accounts for fastest-growing portion of top global SVOD catalogs

HBO Max, a new addition to Gracenote Data Hub, is home to the most sports programming among major streamers NEW YORK May 21, 2026 New analysis by Gracenote...

21/05/2026

Study: Nearly Half of U.S. Viewers Watch Video With Captions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

Apple TV to Capture MLS Game Entirely on iPhone 17 Pro

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

MPTS 2026 Draws Record Numbers for Landmark 10th Annivers...

The UK's leading event for the creative industries united thousands of professionals for two days of networking, debate, industry insight and getting hands-...

21/05/2026

Recreating Doug Trumbull's Slitscan VFX - After Effects Mastery

Recreating Doug Trumbull's Slitscan VFX - After Effects Mastery Graham Quince May 21, 2026 0 Comments In this After Effects tutorial, I'm divi...

21/05/2026

Cavalry: An Array of Fun Stuff

Cavalry: An Array of Fun Stuff Simon Ubsdell May 21, 2026 0 Comments Arrays are a really powerful feature of Cavalry and here we'll go over some o...

21/05/2026

Chyron Launches PRIME Scorebug

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...