Five journalists of The Fourth Estate, the accountability journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), have been named as finalists for the 2026 Excellence in Journalism Awards.

The finalists are associate editors, Seth J. Bokpe and William Nlanjerbor Jalulah, and former Associate Editor, Solomon Joojo Cobbinah, along with investigative reporters Philip Teye Agbove and Edmund Agyemang Boateng.

The Fourth Estate’s shortlisted stories

The Terrible-NLA KGL deal

Last year, The Fourth Estate exposed how The National Lottery Authority’s deal with a private company, KGL Technology, was lopsided, giving the authority just 157.6 million in revenue share for licenses granted to the company in Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire. 

After the publications, President John Mahama ordered a review of the agreement and later directed its renegotiation , saying it was not financially beneficial to the state.

Death in detention

In February 2026, The Fourth Estate exposed at least 19 deaths in Ghanaian police custody between October 2020 and June 2025, raising serious questions about accountability and the circumstances surrounding the deaths. The investigation uncovered cases in which families disputed police accounts, including one in which an independent autopsy contradicted the police’s claim that a detainee had died by suicide.

Organisers of the awards, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) in Nigeria, notified the nominees via email.

“We are delighted to inform you that you have been selected as finalists for the CJID Excellence in Journalism Award 2026,” the Chair of the CJID Awards Committee, Kemi Busari, said in the email.

It added that the recognition reflected the journalists’ “outstanding contribution to journalism and your role in advancing development and democracy in Africa.”

This year’s awards, the third edition since 2024, drew 424 entries from 277 journalists across nine countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea and Benin. This is a 54.2 percent increase on the 275 entries received in 2025, according to the CJID.

Entries went through a first-level screening, from which the top five in each of eight categories emerged: Health Reporting, Community Reporting, Human Rights Reporting, Social Accountability, Climate Change Reporting, Solutions Journalism, Fact-Checking, and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).

The jury

An independent jury then assessed the entries on accuracy, fairness, originality and innovation, depth of research, quality of writing, public significance and adherence to ethical standards.

Hannah Ajakaiye, founding editor of FactsMatter NG, chaired it. Its members were Maxime Domegni of the Global Investigative Journalism Network; Ajibola Amzat of the Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism; Kent Mensah of The Africa Report; investigative journalist and editor Manasseh Azure Awuni; and Amaka Okoye, Bureau Chief of DW’s Studio Lagos.

“This year’s entries showed particular strength in reporting on social accountability, the environment and human rights,” Ms Ajakaiye said.

She also noted a better understanding of solutions journalism, and said there was room for improvement in fact-checking and in coverage of SGBV.

CJID Chief Executive Dapo Olorunyomi said the stories recognised this year “reflect the courage, persistence and public service that sustain journalism in West Africa,” often “under difficult circumstances and with limited resources.”

The latest recognition continues a pattern for the MFWA’s nonprofit newsroom being nominated for the awards since 2024. In 2024, three former Fourth Estate journalists, Manasseh Azure Awuni, Adwoa Adobea-Owusu and Evans Aziamor-Mensah, were nominated and won top honours in the first edition of the awards. In 2025, four of its journalists, Philip Teye Agbove, Kwaku Krobea Asante, Evans Aziamor-Mensah and Justice Baidoo, were shortlisted and subsequently crowned laureates in various categories of the prestigious award.

The finalists will be honoured at the CJID Awards ceremony on Wednesday, 25 November 2026, at the Abuja Continental Hotel, as part of CJID’s Media and Development Conference. The winner and runner-up in each category will be announced on the night.