Maureen Nkandu
Maureen Mumbi Nkandu (born 1st May 1967 in Lusaka)Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many
After studying for her master’s degree, she worked for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as chief international correspondent and TV news anchor. It was through her elaborate work as a roving reporter, covering civil war and conflicts, elections, humanitarian and developmental issues that Maureen was spotted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 2001 to work as their Africa specialist and presenter of the flagship programme, Focus on Africa.[1]
Maureen returned to the SABC, when she reported on the volatile elections in Kenya in December 2007. She brought out the key political and social aspects of the tension in Kenya, while also showcasing how the violence and all the flawed processes impacted on the people there.
In 2010, Maureen worked with the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to develop their communications strategy.[1]
Six years later, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) appointed Maureen as Regional Communications Adviser for East and Southern Africa. And after nearly four years at the UNDP, Maureen was again head-hunted in 2012 by the African Union’s NEPAD Agency as Head of Communications.
In December 2014, she came back home to Zambia working for the World Bank as a Senior Communications Expert. She has also conducted training for public relations practitioners and under the Airtel Media Excellence programme.
Personal life
Later in her teenage life, Maureen met and got engaged to Zambia's soccer legend and former Football Association of Zambia president, Kalusha Bwalya who was based in Belgium at that time. Together they had a daughter, Tamela, but their relationship did not last long. She was in her teens and he was 23; they were young and the public attention also put a strain on them.
Maureen has three children.
Kidnapping in Congo DR
In 1998 while working for SABC, she went to the outskirts of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to interview President Laurent Kabila at the height of the civil war following a rebellion in the east. Maureen and her TV crew catch on camera some of Kabila's security forces beating up innocent people, and this led to them being kidnapped by government soldiers, robbed and nearly raped. Victor, the cameraman, pleaded with the soldiers to let her go claiming that Maureen has a terrible disease that makes her shake and sweat all the time. They were then locked up in a dump dark cell littered with human faeces. [1]
That evening, the SABC reported on the evening news that its crew was missing in Kinshasa. Shortly after, the BBC picked up the story and before long, it became international news which led to their eventual release and repatriation.
Awards
- In Zambia, she was voted the Best TV News Reader for four years running; in 1989, 1990, 1991 and1992
- Won the Press Association of Zambia News Journalist of the Year award
- In 1993 at BOP TV, she won the Best TV Personality of the year
- At SABC she was nominated by the International Women’s Media Foundations for the Courage in Journalism Award, for her coverage of the civil war in Sierra Leone, Rwanda and the DRC
- At BBC she was awarded the Best Presenter in the Africa Service accolade based on audience research.
- She was recently awarded as Zambia’s Media Ambassador.
External links
Related biographies
Main references
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