CITE Opens Nominations for Inaugural 2026 Awards Honouring Community Leaders, Innovators
By Staff Writer
BULAWAYO — The Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) has opened public nominations for the inaugural CITE Awards 2026, an initiative established to honour individuals and grassroots organisations driving community development, innovation, and historical documentation across Zimbabwe.
Nominations opened on Monday, 2 November 2026, and will close on 14 November 2026. The awards are running under the theme “Celebrating the people, stories and voices shaping Zimbabwe.”
CITE Director Zenzele Ndebele said the initiative is designed to highlight impactful work that frequently escapes mainstream attention.
“Across Zimbabwe, people are doing extraordinary work in their communities, developing solutions to everyday challenges, creating content that informs and inspires, and preserving stories that help us understand our past,” Ndebele said in a statement. “The CITE Awards will give the public an opportunity to recognise and celebrate these contributions.”
The awards feature six categories: CITE Person of the Year, Community Changemaker of the Year, Young Innovator of the Year (ages 18–35), Zimbabwe Diaspora Ambassador of the Year, Content Creator of the Year, and ZPRA Liberation Archives Interviewee of the Year, which is run in collaboration with The Frontline.
Participation is open to members of the public in Zimbabwe and abroad through an online nomination portal accessible on mobile devices and desktop computers via the: https://cite.org.zw/cite-awards-2026-nominate-someone-making-a-difference/ . Both self-nominations and third-party submissions are accepted at no cost.
Under the eligibility rules, political figures, public office holders, CITE personnel, judges, and their immediate families are disqualified from contention.
Following the close of nominations on 14 November, CITE will conduct eligibility checks and secure nominee consent between 16 and 20 November, with the final list of up to five candidates per category scheduled for release on 23 November.
Public voting will take place from 23 November to 11 December. In five of the categories, final outcomes will be determined by a weighted calculation combining independent panel evaluations (70 percent) and verified public votes (30 percent).
The ZPRA Liberation Archives Interviewee of the Year category will deviate from the split model, with the winner decided entirely by verified public votes.
Vote verification and final adjudication will conclude on 18 December, ahead of the winners’ announcement at the end of December.
Selected winners will receive official certificates, winner badges, and dedicated documentary profiles produced and broadcast across CITE’s digital and social media distribution networks.
