Radio Okapi to begin broadcasting on Monday

A new radio network with a particular focus on peace-making efforts will be launched in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday, 25 February, to coincide with the convocation of the inter-Congolese dialogue in Sun City, South Africa.

Radio Okapi, a joint initiative of the UN mission in the DRC (known by its French acronym, MONUC) and the Fondation Hirondelle, a Swiss-based nongovernmental organisation (NGO) that specialises in using information for peace, will begin broadcasting simultaneously from three studios in the capital, Kinshasa (103.5 FM), the northeastern city of Kisangani (95 FM), and the eastern city of Goma (103.5 FM), 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The broadcasts should be receivable via short-wave radio throughout most of the DRC, on 9550 KHz.

Initially, Radio Okapi's programming will consist of news bulletins in the morning and evening, in French, Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba, with contributions from Congolese correspondents throughout the country. Shows focusing on the inter-Congolese dialogue, and on MONUC and other UN agencies will also be broadcast daily, with musical interludes.

In the coming months, additional stations will be opened in Kananga (south-central DRC), Mbandaka (in the northwest), Kalemie (southeast), Gbadolite (northwest), Kindu (east-central), Bukavu (east), and Bunia (northeast).

Currently, no medium in the DRC has the capacity to broadcast nationwide, although the government has announced its intention to establish one. Few politically independent broadcasters exist, although Radio Amani in Kisangani, and Radio Maendeleo in Bukavu have managed to survive as independent news broadcasters, and have operated intermittently over the past three years. Their reach is very limited, however.

The material broadcast by Okapi will be made available to other local media free of charge. Radio Okapi will enable Congolese to talk to each other across the country's several political divides, the organisers said. The radio's transmitting stations are guaranteed freedom from censorship under agreements with the various authorities in the DRC, and will broadcast from UN military mission bases, guarded by UN troops.

The main sponsors for the project are the British and Swiss governments. So far, the project has a budget of 2.67 million Swiss francs (about US $1.63 million), according to the organisers.