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SW Radio Africa should be saved
Rita Bhebhe
May 27, 2005

I am not one fond of writing to the media but events of the past few weeks have prompted me to put pen to paper. I read on the News 24 website that SW Radio Africa is going to shut down if pledges by donors are not honoured. This honestly can not be allowed to happen. The fact that Robert Mugabe’s regime invested over 30 million pounds in two Chinese built transmitters at Thornhill Airbase to block their broadcasts into Zimbabwe speaks volumes about their effectiveness. 30 million pounds is not a joke for a cash strapped government but this is testimony to how threatened they felt over the stations uncensored, free flowing broadcasts.

We now have two dedicated internet radio sations in Affro Sounds and the recently launched SAR FM in New York but to be honest with each other Mugabe will not lose sleep over these. Why? They are targetting monied people in the diaspora who can afford computers and broadband connections. If you are already in the diaspora you can’t vote or demonstrate in Zimbabwe and Mugabe will not worry over your activities. Power in our country now resides in the rural areas. These are giving by hook or crook the majority of votes for Mugabe’s tattered legitimacy in elections. We have a serious rural-urban devide that needs bridging and the internet is certainly out of tangent.

This is what makes SW Radio Africa clearly effective. Their Shortwave transmissions are reaching people in the rural areas and really fostering a change of allegiance in the mentality of the rural people. Mugabe always does his home work, and reports were filtering in that the station founded in September 2001 has in the past four years been steadily penetrating the rural areas while simultaneously updating the urban dwellers on daily breaking news. If as is being predicted, the station is closed down what hope does Zimbabwe have? What is the use of funding NGO’s, newspapers and internet radio stations that target an already informed audience who are already supporting the opposition anyway?

With two jamming devices installed by Mugabe, SW Radio Africa has to broadcast on at least three or more frequencies to reach Zimbabweans. This, broadcasting fundis will tell you is a very costly exercise requiring close to hundreds of thousands of pounds. Although I understand they can still broadcast on Medium Wave which is not , for now being jammed, i’m assuming their money has already been exhausted by the multiple frequency broadcasts courtesy of the Chinese intervention. I call on all the donors who are involved in helping Zimbabwe to please stand up and support effective projects. Mugabes has already shown us this project is effective so why are they not pushing back and saving it?

Is the world admitting China is now the superpower and spreading its repressive tentacles around the world? Where are the so-called super powers in this? How do you spread democracy by misdirecting resources? Are we so blind to see what is needed? I was just thinking today if every Zimbabwean in the diaspora donated one US dollar to the station. We in our millions could have the station run on for another year. I suggest the station has to open up such an account and see how we will respond. I am personally prepared to put up 50 US dollars as the opening donation and challege everyone in the diaspora to respond.

The diaspora just has to lead the way for Zimbabweans back home. Broadcasting is the key to power back home, this is why Mugabe has viciously defended ZBC’s monopoly for 25 years. It just has to be broken by an independent Zimbabwean radio station. We in our wisdom or lack of it are letting slip one of the few remaining voices capable of delivering change. The irony of it all. SW Radio Africa wins the Free Media Pioneer Award 2005 from the International Press Instititute (IPI) and then closes a few days later. Are we being serious? How the mandarins in Zimbabwe will celebrate! I say no, this is a serious development in our fight for democracy.

*Rita Bhebhe writes from John Moore University's Media Studies Dept in Liverpool

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