[Imc-africa] Community Radio in Kenya

[John Bwakali]

Hi Peter and Colleagues,
  Community radio in Kenya is indeed not so developed. While over the last few years many FM radio stations have been formed, with a mainly urban audience the same has not been true of community radio. We however have quite a number of regional radio stations that broadcast in local vernacular. These stations and the FM stations are mainly entertainment intensive with snippets of educational programmes. 
   
  A couple of years ago, I visited Mang'elete, the Eastern Kenya community that has a radio station. I am not so sure of the current status of that radio station but will pursue it further for purposes of learning from their experience and networking. One challenge that a community radio station here would face is the competition from either the FM stations and/or local vernacular stations. Often, after a hard day at work, many community members want to relax and often find this relaxation in the form of soothing music from their pocket radios. In the spirit of building capacity, I think it is important at this stage to also start looking at non-technical issues like sustaining and increasing an audience that has a myriad of other radio alternatives. In other words, once the tool (radio) is there, how do you then use the tool effectively?
   
  Concerning the issue of 'be your own journalist' I think that we can use the WSF to greatly enhance the capacity of Indymedia activists in Africa to employ independent media as a means of effecting change in the society. My experience as a participant who was in the Dakar conference is that we also need to focus a lot of our energies on a broader strategy that is inclusive of, not exclusive to WSF. This way, WSF wouldn't just be culmination of concerted effort but also the launching pad of strategic action. This is why I find the Maseno radio project to be quite strategic - it is inclusive of students, a local community and Indymedia activists both in Kenya and abroad. If these three can be able to work together, then this radio project has a bright future indeed. 
   
  What does it take to run a community radio succesfully? Those who can answer this question either from experience or training or research should share their answers with us so that we can revisit our local context here and further refine a local approach that responds to local challenges. I think I'll stop there for now, until later.
   
  Tuonane Kenya! (see you in Kenya)
   
  John Bwak

Peter van Heusden <pvh at wfeet.za.net> wrote:
  Hi comrades - I don't know if anyone from Kenya can write a brief report
on the status of community radio (and licensing) over there? A bit of
googling has delivered a few results:

SIDAREC Telecentre in Kenya to Start Community Radio
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/20844
"Slums Information Development and Resource Centre(SIDAREC), a community
based NGO operating in the slums of Nairobi Kenya has been issued with a
permit by the Kenyan government to operate a community radio station
covering the slum areas of Nairobi. The community radio station will be
based at SIDAREC's Telecentre located at majengo (pumwani) slums, east
of Nairobi with a population of over 500,000 people." (this report is
from September 2006)

CATIA Newsletter
http://www.catia.ws/Newsletters/200609/Newsletter%20Sept%202006.htm
"• In Kenya, this component has been supporting KComNet and Econews who
are advocacy groups for community radio. Community radio is clearly
recognised in the Media and Communication Policy document produced as a
result of KICTAnet activities in which the community radio advocacy
groups participated."
Kenya Community Media Network (KCOMNET) details :
http://radioafrica.oneworld.net/contact/company/view/10235
EcoNews Africa details : http://www.econewsafrica.org/

Putting Community Radio On The Map In Africa
http://www.cbonline.org.au/index.cfm?pageId=12,102,3,797
"In Kenya, Githaiga noted, the yearly licensing fee for all stations was
currently a steep 1,733 dollars." and "At present, Kenya has only one
community radio station, Mang'elete, which began operating in the east
of the country after a decade of intense lobbying. Two other stations
are reportedly awaiting licensing." (this report is from April 2005)

News > Kenya > Media from APC
http://africa.rights.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=21872n21843e_1

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