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Surviving
in a Risky Operating Environment - The Radio VOP Story
John Masuku
Extracted from OSISA OpenSpace Magazine
February 05, 2007
It is six years
since Zimbabwe's Radio
Voice of the People (VOP) was formed. Several things that have
happened in this very short space of time, illustrate what an extremely
difficult operating environment VOP has endured. Among these: VOP's
offices have been bombed, its computer equipment confiscated by
the police, and its journalists and trustees arrested on spurious
charges of broadcasting without a license (that is granted through
a government-appointed regulatory authority).
It seems that the governing authorities are uncomfortable with VOP's
unwavering commitment to promoting free expression through the powerful
medium of radio, as a voice of the voiceless in a country well-known
for its draconian and repressive media laws as well as for selective
justice.
Established to lobby and advocate for political, economic, cultural
and social development through alternative broadcasting, Radio VOP
came into being in mid- June 2000. To put the political landscape
in perspective: this was just two weeks ahead of watershed general
elections of the new millennium that ushered into parliament members
of the then recently established Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC). The MDC clinched 57 of the 120 seats in the parliament, showing
itself to be a formidable opposition party in Zimbabwe's Parliament
which, for almost 20 years, had been dominated by the ruling Zimbabwe
African National Union (Patriotic Front) ZANU (PF) party, resulting
in a de facto one-party state. Radio VOP's founding trustees only
thought that they were laying the groundwork for the seemingly imminent
opening up of the airwaves through a short-term radio project that
would provide alternative views largely disregarded by the then
monopolistic Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), now Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH), which was in the run-up to the polls,
unashamedly biased in its news and other programme coverage towards
the ruling party and government.
At about the same time, new broadcasting legislation was emerging.
It had taken 20 years for the government to amend the outdated Broadcasting
Act Chapter 12:01 of 1957. This followed the successful legal
challenge launched by the short-lived Capital Radio which ended
ZBC's domination of the airwaves, albeit on paper only. It was to
be a mere academic victory, since no private radio and television
stations were officially licensed to be in competition with the
state broadcaster thereafter. On 4 October 2000, after the Capital
Radio debacle in which the police had raided a Harare hotel and
taken away the station's broadcasting equipment, the government,
in an extraordinary gazette, hurriedly put in place Presidential
Powers (Temporary Measures) (Broadcasting), Regulations, 2000. These
regulations made provision for the establishment of the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), whose mandate was to license operators
in the industry and regulate operations generally. Six years down
the line, the regulator has done very little to advance its mandate.
The regulations had a life span of six months from the date of promulgation
by virtue of the provisions of the enabling legislation. Their expiry
was preceded by the enactment of the Broadcasting Services Act Chapter
12:06 of 2001.
Enter the VOP
Despite the existence of the enabling legislation for the liberalisation
of the airwaves, BAZ continued to procrastinate on the licensing
of new broadcast media Radio (VOP) registered at the High Court
Deeds Office as a communications Trust, as this was the only form
of legal existence available. However, in order to avoid breaking
the law the actual operations on the ground had to be approached
strategically by packaging programmes in Shona, Ndebele and English
within Zimbabwe, and then broadcasting them on Shortwave 7120KHz
and 7190Khz in the 41 meter band through the transmitters of Radio
Netherlands with their relay station in Madagascar in the Indian
Ocean.
David Masunda the current Chairperson of the Radio VOP Board of
Trustees explains: "As the name implies, VOP was formed to
give a voice to the voiceless marginalised, the rural and urban
communities whose interests are not being catered for by the government
media, the voices of opposition political parties, those "banned"
from the government-owned media, the civic society and the ordinary
Zimbabwean whose story is not being told."
The founders of Radio VOP had among other ideas, some noble objectives
of offering an alternative news outlet to Zimbabweans when they
set up the project, including the coverage of pertinent issues ignored
by the state media and the encouragement of participatory democracy
in areas of governance, parliament, business development, gender
and the environment, and health (especially with the advent of the
HIV and AIDS pandemic that has wreaked havoc regardless of social
differences). These objectives sounded too ambitious - and a tall
order - for a small station like Radio VOP which broadcasts for
only one-hour between 1900hrs and 2000hrs everyday. But, with the
appetite for listening to diverse views that existed among Zimbabweans,
long starved of balanced news from different local sources, it became
an achievable task.
Be that as it may, the operating environment has not been very rosy
for the noble media initiative. Instead of licensing new players
and also making the run-down ZBH a true public broadcaster, Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) officials, together with Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) operatives and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)
disrupted Radio VOP activities on several occasions. In July 2002,
they raided the station's offices located in a low-density suburb
of Harare. They took away recorders, cassettes, mini diskettes,
compact discs and some files, only to return them a month later
without placing any charges on the Trust. All this followed the
station's successful coverage of the 2000 Parliamentary poll during
which the MDC nearly defeated ZANU (PF), and the 2002 presidential
elections won by incumbent Robert Mugabe in a controversial contest
that saw him beat his closest rival the trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai
of the MDC.
By then, the government had started a major onslaught against private
media like The Daily News and Radio VOP in the belief that
such media gave a lot of coverage to the opposition, especially
when their coverage exposed instances of violence and alleged vote
rigging largely blamed on the state.
A serious clampdown on the operations and activities of independent
media institutions was to follow. Draconian anti-free-press laws
such as the Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) emerged,
as did the Public
Order and Security Act (POSA) and the amendments to the Broadcasting
Services Act (BSA). The BSA brought about the establishment of the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), which was to be the regulator
of the electronic media, although most of its licensing powers remained
with the sitting minister of information and a structure in the
ministers office called the Media and Information Commission, MIC.
At best, BAZ made sure that it never called for the application
for licenses by new players, especially those like Capital Radio,
Radio VOP, Munhumutapa African Broadcasting Corporation (MABC) television,
among others that had shown determination. The MIC and BAZ, like
their hostile parent Ministry of Information and Publicity, viewed
Radio VOP as an anti-government station. They denied its journalists
accreditation and later also turned down the station's application
for a license to operate a free-to-air FM station in the capital
city, Harare.
VOP under fire
On 29 August 2002 the upcoming offices of the resilient Radio VOP
were completely destroyed in a powerful bomb blast that left the
building in ashes and ruins. The saboteurs circumvented a night
security guard before planting explosives that reduced the station
to a shell. The blast destroyed a modern digital studio, computers,
furniture, project documents, tapes and compact discs worth more
than US$120 000. Almost seven years later, the
perpetrators of the dastardly act have not been apprehended and
brought to book.
Said then Radio VOP Chairperson, Dr Faith Ndebele, soon after the
devastating bomb blast: "Radio VOP is a legally registered
communications trust which strives to give an alternative view in
the country and we are saddened at this attempt to silence us."
Brian Kagoro, the former Radio VOP Executive Director was blunter:
He charged: "There is a concerted effort by the state and sympathetic
parastate groups to make us believe in the futility of the struggle
- a desperate attempt to induce us into submission through terror."
However, the government, through the then minister in charge of
information and publicity Jonathan Moyo - who presided over the
demise of many progressive media houses in Zimbabwe - reacted arrogantly
as expected; "Something went wrong and they bombed themselves
so they could blame the government," he said, describing Radio
VOP as a pirate radio station sponsored by western imperialists
to cause ethnic divisions and disharmony in the country. He further
vowed that stations like Radio VOP which received funding from foreign
sources, were going to be licensed "over my dead body."
With everything in ashes, and also faced with an even riskier and
more threatening operating environment, the Radio VOP Board of trustees,
management and staff vowed to soldier on but with utmost care, considering
the danger to their limb and the likelihood of the station's permanent
closure. Three months after its destruction, the station was quietly
rehabilitated and back on air with new programmes, much to the dismay
of its detractors and saboteurs.
In June 2003, as the socio-economic situation deteriorated further
in Zimbabwe, two Radio VOP journalists Shorai Kariwa and Martin
Chimenya were arrested by ZANU (PF) youth militia and so-called
war veterans of the liberation war while they were covering what
the opposition MDC dubbed "the final push", during which
they demonstrated against Mugabe to force him to accept that his
government had failed the country dismally and therefore should
go. The two journalists were beaten up and had their recorders,
mobile phones, money and identity particulars taken (never to be
returned). Thereafter, Kariwa, who also doubled as a technical operator,
was asked to lead state security agents and armed police to my home,
as I was Executive Director of the station. Heavily armed police
searched the whole house before taking away a personal computer,
office files and floppy diskettes, an event which traumatised and
still continues to haunt the members of my family and especially
our children.
The confiscated items were returned the following day without any
charges being laid on Radio VOP Trust, and this incident motivated
the station to continue with its work. In December 2003, Chimenya
was to face further arrest in the south eastern town of Masvingo
when he covered the ZANU (PF) annual conference. He was locked up
in deplorable police cells for a week after interviewing an MDC
activist who said that it was foolish for President Mugabe to have
withdrawn Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth club of former British
colonies. Chimenya, who was later released without charge, learnt
that he had been sold out by a journalist from the state media who
was assigned to spy on fellow reporters from the private press.
The year 2004 was largely a harassment-free one for the Radio VOP
community. It saw the station grow in programme content, personnel
development and preparation of listeners for the forthcoming March
2005 Parliamentary elections. Several civic organisations, especially
those like the Zimbabwe
Electoral Support Network (ZESN), Zimbabwe
Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET), National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights and Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition, dealing with voter education and analysing
the electoral process, participated in several Radio VOP informative
and educative news and discussion programmes on issues to do with
democracy, good governance and freedom of expression and choice.
Audiences grew to about 600 000 listeners every evening, according
to the Zimbabwe All Media Product Survey (ZAMPS) conducted by the
Zimbabwe Audience Research Foundation (ZARF). Radio VOP recruited
about Surviving in a Risky Operating Environment Open Society Initiative
for Southern Africa With everything in ashes, and also faced with
an even riskier and threatening operating environment, the Radio
VOP Board of trustees, management and staff vowed to soldier on
but with utmost care, considering the danger to their limb and the
likelihood of the station's permanent closure. fifteen provincial
correspondents to augment the work done by full-time, city-based
journalists. Shortwave listenership was promoted through popular
quiz shows, which saw a lot of people from all over the country
win shortwave radio sets. Several by-elections and the March poll
itself were covered without incident.
But Radio VOP's period of relative peace was shortlived. By the
end of August 2005, its shortwave signal was being seriously jammed
by the state using powerful equipment sourced through the Chinese
(forcing it to change from 7120 KHz to a higher frequency, which
was about 95 percent audible). This action was condemned by the
Reporters Without Borders, who described the jamming as "an
illegal action and a Great Wall of the Airwaves" referring
to the Chinese involvement in the callous airwave gagging exercise,
which has since been extended to other radio stations broadcasting
into Zimbabwe namely, London-based Short Wave Radio Africa and Voice
of America's Washington-based Studio 7.
In condemning the jamming exercise, the New Yorkbased Committee
to Protect Journalists said: "It is outrageous that Zimbabwean
authorities, not content with snuffing out the local media, are
cutting off the few outside sources of information still available.
The jamming of news broadcasts in Zimbabwe should cease immediately."
Radio VOP's operating space was further shrunk when on 15 December
2005, police accompanied by BAZ officials and CIO operatives launched
a surprise raid on its offices in central Harare. They took away
recording equipment, several computers, and office files before
arresting three journalists Maria Nyanyiwa, Nyasha Bhosha and Kundai
Mugwanda, and later the author (Executive Director John Masuku),
and locked them up for four nights in filthy police prison cells.
The journalists were released without charges being preferred against
them, but the author was charged with violating the Broadcasting
Services Act by running a radio station without a license from BAZ
and was released on bail.
A month later six Radio VOP trustees: journalist and newspaper editor
David Masunda (Chairperson), human rights lawyer Arnold Tsunga (Deputy
Chairperson), journalist and gender activist Isabella Matambanadzo
(Secretary), media researcher Nhlanhla Ngwenya (Treasurer), lawyer
Lawrence Chibwe and journalist Millie Phiri were similarly charged
and released on bail. In condemning the harassment of VOP personnel,
the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said: "We call upon the
ministers of information and home affairs and the Commissioner of
Police to immediately and publicly call for an end to such unlawful
actions and express their commitment to protecting all human rights
defenders adhering to their obligations under national and international
law." The Committee to Protect Journalists added: "We
are deeply troubled by Zimbabwe's blatant censorship of Voice of
the People, an important news source in a country where independent
broadcasters are unable to operate. We call on authorities to release
VOP equipment immediately, to drop all criminal proceedings and
to cease their campaign of harassment against VOP staff members."
Conclusion
Represented by a well known media defence lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa,
Radio VOP trustees and staff appeared in court, after several postponements
on 25 September 2006. The fear was that, if found guilty, they would
go to prison for up to two years each. The magistrate dismissed
the case as an absolute "circus".
And so now, VOP returns to the drawing board, inspired by the fact
that against these odds, there has been a lot to smile about at
Radio VOP recently. The station was the proud winner of the prestigious
One World Media Awards 2006 - Special Achievement Award for Community
Media that promoted human rights and sustainable development in
a difficult operating environment. It was chosen ahead of a final
shortlist of media from Liberia, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Brazil,
and collected its well-deserved prize at a glittering ceremony held
at Porchester Hall in London on 8 June 2006. In receiving the prize,
Radio VOP said in a statement: "We feel greatly honoured to
receive this award and we hope in the nottoo- distant future we
will have free airwaves in Zimbabwe for us and others to broadcast
for the public good."
It is hoped that Radio VOP will live long to realise its vision
of a Zimbabwe that respects the right to information, where citizens
freely exchange knowledge and ideas and its goal to be the first
choice radio station for informed opinion in the country is achieved.
*John Masuku is Executive Director, VOP.
Bibliography
- Chibwe Lawrence
and Carr, B An Analysis of the Broadcasting Services Act Amendments
of 2002 and the ZBC Commercialization Act, for MISA.
- Geoff Feltoe,
Media Law and Practice in Zimbabwe, Media Institute of
Southern Africa (MISA) and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
- Nkosi Ndlela,
Critical Analysis of Media Law in Zimbabwe, Media Institute
of Southern Africa (MISA) and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
- Radio VOP
Deed of Trust.
- Radio VOP
Profile brochure, (www.radiovop.com/
www.vopradio.co.zw).
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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