Ghanaian Journalist Thomas Naadi Bitlegma has won the 2015 CNN Multichoice Journalist of the Year Award for Environment.

At an event held at the Kenya International Conference Centre (KICC), Saturday, Bitlegma, who works for local television station Viasat 1, scooped the prize, sponsored by The African Development Bank Environment.

Ghana’s other hopeful Fiifi Anaman, lost out in the Sports Category to Nigeria’s Arukaino Umukoro of The Punch Newspaper.

Burkina Faso Journalist, Hyacinthe Boowurosigue Sanou, won the overall award.

The CNN/MultiChoice African Journalist 2015 is Hyacinthe Boowurosigue Sanou, Burkina Faso #AfricanJournoAwards #AJA20 pic.twitter.com/lwsHvIOvKK

— AfricanJournoAwards (@AfricanJourno) October 10, 2015

This year’s finalists enjoyed an all-expense paid four-day programme of workshops, media forums and networking in Kenya, culminating in a Gala Award Ceremony Saturday.

The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2015 competition is open to African professional journalists, whether directly employed or freelancers, working in the continent of Africa, and who have produced a story which has been made available as a printed publication or broadcast through an electronic medium (television; radio or digital platform) whose primary audience are based in Africa.

Entries were published or broadcast in 2014.

The independent judging panel was chaired by Ferial Haffajee, Editor-in-Chief, City Press, South Africa, and also had Debo Adesina, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian Newspapers, Nigeria; Nima Elbagir, Senior International Correspondent, CNN; Jean-Paul Gérouard, Editor-in-Chief, France Télévisions ; Fernando Gonçalves, Editor, Savana, Mozambique; Anton Harber, Caxton Professor of Journalism, University of the Witwatersrand; Joel Kibazo, Director of Communications and External Relations, African Development Bank Group; Amadou Mahtar Ba, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, AllAfrica Global Media; Wanja Njuguna, Senior Lecturer, Polytechnic of Namibia & CNN Journalist of the year 2000; José Sebastião Paulo, Professor of Journalism, University Agostinho Neto, Angola; and David Ohito, Digital Editor, The Standard Media Group, Kenya as members.