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MMPZ Press Statement on the jamming of SW Radio Africa broadcasts
Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
March 18, 2005

Following the dispatch of our latest weekly media update Number 10, MMPZ has established that transmissions of SW Radio Africa are being deliberately jammed.

Although government has denied jamming SW Radio Africa's broadcasts, a report by the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) revealed that the jamming appears to emanate from Zimbabwe using Chinese equipment at Thornhill in Gweru.

According to the IBB report, three jammers are being used to jam the three short wave frequencies used by SW Radio Africa. "One kHz tone is used to jam the broadcasts; and is continued till the transmitters become too hot; then 'noise' is used to avoid over driving the jamming transmitters. ...", says the report. The BBC Monitoring Services also confirmed the jamming saying the "the interfering signals were present only for the period of the SW Radio Africa programming".

MMPZ condemns in the strongest terms this latest deliberate assault on freedom of expression. This act of sabotage against SW Radio Africa's broadcasts, particularly in the run up to the March 2005 general elections, is a cynical attempt to deny the public their right to access information sources of their choice.

It also demonstrates a blatant intolerance for the free flow of information, which is the cornerstone of every participatory democracy.

This latest affront to freedom of expression is not isolated. The government has used repressive broadcasting legislation to stall the opening of the broadcasting sector to independent broadcasters five years after the Supreme Court struck down the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings' monopoly as unconstitutional in 2000.

The private print media have also suffered the brunt of the authorities' intolerance of a free Press. Since September 2003, four newspapers have been shut down, the latest being The Weekly Times which was closed on February 25 2005 after publishing just eight issues.

This clampdown on the media violates the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections demonstrating a failure to meet some of the minimum conditions for holding of a free and fair election.

To counter this assault on its broadcasts, SW Radio Africa announced alternative frequencies on which its programmes can be heard:

6145 on the 49 metre band
3230 or 3300 in the 90 metre band
4880 in the 60 metre band

On the 25 metre band, listeners are urged to tune in to the following frequencies:

11845 for the first hour
11705 for the second hour
11995 for the last hour

SW Radio Africa says it can also be heard in the Medium Wave (MW) 1197kHz band between 05:00 hours and 07:00 hours, which is not jammed. Studio 7 and BBC broadcasts are not being jammed.

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