CAMPANEROS: ANOTHER VOICE IS SILENCED

ZAMBIA – Radio Icengelo, Kitwe
Zambian radio station at centre of poll row
Background briefing by BBC Monitoring on 13 November 2008

Zambian police have arrested a Roman Catholic priest in the middle of a live radio broadcast, according to reports on 13 November. The cleric, Father Frank Bwalya, is the station manager of Radio Ichengelo, a Catholic Church‑owned FM station in the north‑central town of Kitwe . Kitwe (also known as Kitwe‑Nkana) is the third‑largest city in Zambia and lies in the middle of the country's copper‑mining region.
Arrest
The station was said to have been running programmes critical of Zambia 's hotly‑contested 30 October presidential election.
The poll was won by Rupiah Banda of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). He defeated Michael Sata of the opposition Patriotic Front (PF). Sata accused officials of rigging the poll.
It is the second time this month that police have raided the station. In the first incident, according to privately‑owned newspaper The Post on 3 November, officers acted after "receiving complaints from some MMD supporters who were unhappy with the way the station manager, Fr Frank Bwalya, was announcing election results". The police "cautioned and advised Fr Bwalya to stop making such announcements as he was likely to incite people to rise against the government".
The latest action comes as the PF plans demonstrations over the poll in the Copperbelt on 15 November, according to The Post.
Father Bwalya is not the only journalist to come under state sanction in the past month.
On 31 October, Julius Sakala, news editor of popular private station Phoenix Radio, was barred from entering the main vote‑counting centre in the capital Lusaka . The Media Institute of Southern Africa reported that police "later allowed Sakala entry after they heard him filing a radio programme by phone".
On 3 October, Information Minister Mike Mulongoti threatened to close The Post newspaper "if it does not cooperate with the government and the courts of law". President Banda had sued the paper over alleged defamation.
Troubled history
Radio Ichengelo has a history of getting into political hot water over its programming.
In July 2005, it was one of 19 community radio stations and two private TV stations accused by the Ministry of Information of "diverting from evangelical and social issues to political programmes". According to The Post, the ministry accused the stations of "revealing [their] partisan politics".
In February 2003, the then deputy information minister, Webster Chipili, threatened to shut down the station after accusing it of being financed by the PF. The threat came after the station aired an interview with Sata.
Broadcasts have been disrupted by supporters of the ruling party. On 10 November 2001, MMD supporters raided the station and disrupted a live interview with Sata, who had just left government. A similar disruption occurred on 6 October 2001, during another interview with Sata.
In May 2001, the station was off the air for two days following an arson attack on its premises. "Staffers suspect that the arson was in retaliation for Radio Ichengelo's opposition to Zambian president Frederick Chiluba's bid for an unconstitutional third term," the New York‑based Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Origins
Radio Ichengelo was set up in 1996 and is one of several stations owned by the Catholic Church in Zambia . It is operated by the Catholic Archdiocese of Ndola.
In November 2006 the Zambian parliament's committee on information and broadcasting said the station's mission was to "preach the good news with its full meaning in the community". The committee said Radio Ichengelo had a potential coverage radius of 300 km, but at the time was "only covering 120 km".
In a feature to mark the station's 10th anniversary, the state‑owned Times of Zambia said the station employed 27 contract staff, but relied heavily on volunteers. Income was derived from grants, donations, advertising and programme sponsorship.
Radio Ichengelo (the Bemba word for "light", sometimes rendered "Icengelo") transmits on 89.1 MHz and 102.2 MHz. According to the Times, it broadcasts 18 hours per day in English, Bemba and Lamba.

Source: BBC Monitoring research 13 Nov 08
Lay-out: CAMECO Africa Desk

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