Community Radios and AKCMO

Community Radios and AKCMO

•   The Government of Kenya realized early than most African countries, the importance of community radios.
•   In May 1982, it allowed UNESCO to open the first community radio in Homabay, Nyanza Region
•   It broadcast in Luo Language and therefore very popular in the area
•   However this pioneering initiative did not last long and this stationwas closed in two and a half years time for political reasons.
•   Kenya lost an opportunity to be a pace setter in this broadcast subsector.
•   It has never recovered and even today there is little affirmative action by the Govt or other stakeholders to support community radios thrive ( not survive)
•   UNESCO no longer financially support community radios in Kenya. They do it elsewhere in Africa!
• However, due to lobbying by AKCMO and other stakeholders, GAA has recognized and allowed community radios to tender for regional government adverts
• However, there is no evidence these adverts have been granted to community radios so far.

Why was AKCMO formed?

Community Radios are licensed by CA under Section 46F of KICA 1998

AKCMO was formed in 2018 and has a membership of 42 stations. More are coming

AKCMO was formed to:

Bring together its members all over Kenya

Share experiences and challenges

Ensure Community radios will never be used by politicians to spread hatred and incite violence as happened in 2007/08

Lobby for community media to participate in Government tenders. Already secured through GAA. So far no Gvt Jobs have been secured

Cover the gap left by commercial broadcasters which sometimes let the signal to deteriorate in areas that may not attract financial returns.

To ensure interference cases are dealt with expeditiously by CA and concerned parties. So far Sawanga interference by Sedai FM has taken too long to resolve and has gone to Senate as a last resort

To make it easier for industry and government to reach the broadcasters easily To promote cultural values and fight for community rights
To promote peaceful co-existence among diverse ethnic communities

To lobby for membership of local and international bodies such as MCK, ATU, ITU, EACO etc

Importance of Community Radios

•  Avenue for participatory communication and a tool for social and economic development
• Offers a model broadcasting beyond commercial consideration targeting certain community interests (not ethnic)
• Broadcast in local languages and are operated, owned and driven by the community they serve
• Not-for-profit broadcasters. They facilitate individuals, groups and communities to tell their stories
• Facilitate civil society, NGOs and citizens to work together for development
• They address poverty, agriculture, gender inequality, among others in theirprogramming
• Facilitate capacity building through such organizations as UNESCO, MCK,CA, UNDP etc. offer innovative broadcasting content
• Programmes are community-centric involving local journalists.
• Programmes on Women, youth and PLWD are given priority
• Issues of education, trade and commerce, disaster mitigation, climate change and natural calamities are discussed

Importance of Community Radios (continued)

• Encourage increased enrolment in schools in marginalized areas
• Increased hygiene and sanitation among communities through targeted programmes.
• Listeners clubs such as Mashabiki wa Msingi in Sawanga FM in Laikipia County to promote ownership and programme relevance
• Community identify with presenters because they are their own daughters and sons who understand the cultural dynamics of their locality.
• Encourage cultural discussions, including story telling by involving elders and youths thereby inculcating the latter with cultural values
• Hold leaders to account by inviting them to discuss pertinent issues raised by listeners concerning their areas. Governor, Senators, MPs, Women Reps, Word Reps appear in local programmes
• Becomes a platform for selling farm produce and other commodity thus promoting local SME. People like artisan, don’t have to travel long distances hawking their ware. They have ready advertisers
• Family life, moral issues, gender and social inclusion, domestic violence, conflict resolution, peace building are some of the topics in the programmes.
• Sports programmes are also featured and analyzed by local journalists regularly

Conclusion and Recommendations

• Need for Govt to recognize the catalytic development role the community radio play in Kenya.

• They need to be mainstreamed in the County and National Govt development programmes

• They can be effective conveyors of government policies hence attract Annual Government Budgetary Allocations.

• If they have been effectively used in South Africa, why not Kenya?
• In south Africa, there is Media Diversity and Development Authority (MDDA) whose mandate is:

• To create an enabling environment for media development and diversity that reflects the needs and aspirations of South Africans.

• To redress exclusion and marginalization of the disadvantaged communities and persons from accessing information

• To promote media development and diversity by providing support primarily to community and small commercial radios

• To encourage ownership and control of, and access to, media by historically disadvantaged communities and diminished indigenous languages (Suba in Kenya) and cultural groups

• To encourage channeling of resources (financial and others) to community media and small commercial media sectors

• To play their very important role, community radio MUST keep of partisan politics and religion

Conclusion and Recommendation

This quote attributed to the late statesman, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, is appropriate for the role the Community Radios are Playing in Kenya

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart”

Community Radios in Kenya are delivering development messages to the hearts of their Listeners.