Zachary O.

A former Director of Communications and Head of the Governor’s Press Service at the County Government of Kisumu, Zachary Ochieng is a widely-travelled writer, editor and PR/Media consultant. He holds over 27 years’ combined experience in Media and Public Relations gained from the newsroom, PR agencies, Government and the NGO sector. Zachary’s illustrious career in journalism includes a stint as the Managing Editor of CIO East Africa, (a regional business technology magazine and part of the US-based International Data Group (IDG). He also edited Highway Africa News Agency (HANA), a pan-African online ICT magazine published by Rhodes University, South Africa. Other publications he previously edited include NewsfromAfrica online and The Big Issue Kenya. He has also written extensively for [login to view URL] and the Nation Media Group's English titles namely Daily Nation, Business Daily and The EastAfrican. Zachary is currently the Senior East Africa correspondent for NewsAfrica and AfricaBriefing, both monthly international magazines published in the UK, as well as The African Courier, a bi-monthly international magazine published in Germany. He has been involved in mentoring and training of journalists across the continent. Zachary is a winner of seven international and pan-African journalism awards, including Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards (2010), Siemens Profile Awards for Science, Technology and Innovation Reporting (2011 and 2005), Highway Africa Journalist of the Year (2007), African Information Society Initiative (AISI) Media Awards (2007), International Award for Women Affairs (2007) and International Award for Excellence in Journalism (2004). He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Bombay (India) and post-graduate qualifications in communications and journalism from Rhodes University and the University of the Witwatersrand (both based in South Africa).