The DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, a pan-African competition which inspires interest in
science and space technology in young African students, announced Joseph Mahiya
(Zimbabwe) as the winner in the essay category. Mahiya has won a trip to Paris and
onwards to a launch site to witness a rocket blast into space to place a satellite into
orbit. The runner up in the essay category was Joao Nuno Freire Melo (Angola) who
won a trip for two to visit the MultiChoice facilities and the South African National
Space Agency near Johannesburg. The theme for the essay category was: “Imagine
yourself as a satellite looking down on earth and consider the key issues shaping
Africa and how satellites can help development’.
The fourth edition of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, organised by MultiChoice and
Eutelsat, took place in Zambia on 10 February and attracted over 1000 entries from
14 countries.
In the poster category, first place went to Hannah Kasule (Uganda) who will visit
Eutelsat in Paris. Lesley Chakurira (Zimbabwe) was the runner up in the same
category. The four winning schools attended by the overall award winners and
runners-up were also rewarded with a DStv installation, including dish, TV set, PVR
decoder and free access to the DStv Education Bouquet.
The international jury assessing this year’s entries was chaired by European Space
Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli with Dr. Jacob O Ashong, director (also
Higher Education Consultant) at the Ghana Science Project and Planetarium;
Christine Mugimba, head of Spectrum Management at the Uganda Communications
Commission; Professor Steve Simukanga, vice chancellor of the University of
Zambia as well as a representative from MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat.
Commenting on the entries, Nespoli said, “The jury was truly impressed by the
grasp of technology, the maturity of ideas, the quality of compositions and the
creativity of artwork in this year’s entries. The DStv Eutelsat Star Awards shines a
spotlight on the potential of the many inspired and motivated students in Africa who
are passionate about the development of their continent and the opportunities for
progress. It is an honour to assess their work.’
The winners were announced in the presence of the permanent secretary of the
Zambian Ministry of Education, Chishimba Nkoshya, who commented, “I am sure I
am speaking on behalf of everybody here when I say education serves as the
means to bring about the desired change in society, to develop a generation of
virtuous individuals and thus contribute to the development of good human beings. I
hope that MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat will continue to inspire not only young
Zambians but the youth all over the continent to take up careers in sciences so that
Africa can produce more engineers, astronauts, medical doctors and others in the
future.’
