|
No
vernaculars, please
by Jennifer Wanjiru, Rights Features Service
(September 1, 2000) Kenyan
President Daniel arap Moi has instructed Attorney General Amos Wako
and Information Minister Musalia Mudavadi to prepare a law that
bans private stations from broadcasting in local languages.
The out-of-the-blue
order has been interpreted as a measure to contain a Kikuyu-language
radio station, Kameme FM 101.1, which has had a near fanatical
following among the populous Kikuyu, the majority tribe in Kenya.
| Under
a new proposal by Kenya's president, only the state-owned
radio station would be allowed to broadcast in local languages.
|
While issuing the instructions,
President Moi said that only the state-run Kenya Broadcasting
Corporation (KBC) should be allowed to broadcast in local languages
and instructed the private radio stations to switch over to Kiswahili,
the national language, or English, the official language.
The order will affect
two other little-known stations. One is Rehema Radio, a Christian
religion station that broadcasts in the Rift Valley province in
several local languages including Kikuyu, Kisii, Luo, and Kalenjin.
The other is a little known Hindi Metro East FM that serves the
Hindus in Kenya.
While the other two
are largely unknown, Kameme has eclipsed the Kenya Broadcasting
Station's Central Service Station, which broadcasts in vernacular
languages both in terms of revenue and popularity, especially
in Nairobi and its surroundings.
The presidential move
is once again seen as an attempt to protect KBC's monopoly, but
will severely undermine the future of broadcasting in this east
African nation.
Dissenting voices
Political observers
say that Moi has had a problem with Kikuyu entrepreneurs in the
broadcasting industry and dislikes the tribe for voting entirely
for opposition parties.
While Hindi Metro has
announced it will switch to English and Kiswahili, Kameme FM 101.1
defiantly continued with its normal broadcasts in Kikuyu. Rehema
Radio has not reacted on the matter although sources say it will
have no problem switching into Swahili as per the presidential
directive. Curiously, KBC owns 40 percent of the East FM station
while 60 percent is owned by local company Ellies Aerials. Rehema
Radio is headed by Pastor George Gichana while members of the
board include Dr. Margaret Kamar Biwott, the wife of longtime
Moi ally Nicholas Biwott. Nicholas Biwott is the most powerful
Kenyan minister.
Fighting "tribalism"
Moi claims that the
vernacular stations are only promoting tribalism, a charge that
Kameme Radio owner Rose Kimotho denies.
"Kameme addresses Kenyan
ideals and not tribalism. We don't believe tribalism can be encouraged
through language. It's the content that maters and we believe
our content is non-tribal," she protests.
|
Citizen
Radio owner S. K. Macharia has recently clashed with Kenyan
officials after the station beat the state-owned Kenya Broadcasting
Corporation in the ratings.
|
Moi said that vernacular
speakers are "adequately served by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
which ensures that national unity is not undermined."
Kameme plays largely
Kikuyu music, with some occasional Western music. Most of its
advertisements are in Kikuyu language.
Onslaught on vernacular
radios
It appears that Moi
is angry that Kameme has in six months time become the most popular
FM station in Nairobi, dominating bars and private taxis.
Moi said that the move
was geared towards rooting out "tribalism, the root cause of tribalism
in many African countries."
The presidential directive
has started eliciting protest in large media houses. The head
of Nation Media Group (East Africa's largest media house), Wilfred
Kiboro, said that "broadcasting in vernacular helps preserve culture
and serves Kenyans who don't understand English or Kiswahili."
Kiboro, who is the
chairman of Media Owners Association, called for an urgent meeting
between the government and broadcasters.
This new onslaught
on vernacular radios comes at a time when another private radio
station, Citizen Radio, is struggling to stay afloat after it
was blocked from broadcasting in the rural areas. Citizen was
the only other station broadcasting news in the rural areas apart
from state-owned KBC. Its frequencies has since been cancelled
and the station owner, Samuel Macharia is fighting in Kenyan courts
to have them restored.
|
