I
had already received my letter of recall from the Foreign Service after having
served almost seven years at the Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Washington
DC. That was mid 2014. During the period I was at the Mission, I had several
times gone on one of those ten day leave to visit friends and relatives spread
across the United States.
Though I had been to Atlanta once before on
official duty, I had always longed for an opportunity that would enable me
visit places of interest such as the CNN Center, the Martin Luther King Jr
National Historic Center, the World of Coca-Cola and the Jimmy Carter Library.
Most of all, I had always promised an American friend Professor Debra
(Spitulnik) Vidali that one day, before the end of my tour, I would bring along
my family to Atlanta so she could get to meet them.
Professor
Vidali is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Emory University. She spent
several years in Zambia in Lusaka, Luapula and Northern Provinces researching
on the Bemba language. She has authored numerous essays on radio and peoples’
relationships with media and language in Zambia. In the 80s, her first port of call had been
the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) where she interacted with
most broadcasters from both the English and Bemba sections. She had also lived
and met with some Bemba chiefs in most parts of Luapula and the then Northern
Province. At Emory University, she is recognized as an expert in the Bemba
language and the Bemba traditions.
It
was no wonder that when I visited her at the Department of Anthropology, her
office was full of African Literature books, many of Zambia writers. Her
library consisted Zambian writers from Stephen Mpashi’s Pano Chalo, Chekesoni, Uwakalema Takaleka to Andrea Masiye’s Before Dawn, Dominic Mulaisho’s Tongue of the Dumb, Alick Musonda’s Maliongo, Imamba taifyala mamba mbiye.
Other Zambian writers included books by Mubanga
Kashoki, Maon Kachinga, Brighton Lubasi, Phallen Bwalya and Mwanza Nakawala. Dr. Vidali also has
the largest private collection of Harriet Chirwa and Agnes Morton’s Bana Chimbusa programmes, Mwansa
Kapeya’s Ifyabukaya and David
Yumba’s Kabusha Takolelwe Ubowa.
She
was later to tell me that her celebrated Bemba Presenter and Producer on local
language radio on the Home Service of the Zambia National Broadcasting
Corporation (ZNBC) was the late David Yumba, the initiator of Kabusha Takolelwe Ubowa, a Bemba
proverb translated into English as “A
person who inquires first, is not poisoned by mushroom”. The programme whose
letters were be read by the co-presenter, the late Emelda Yumbe, were answers
to letters from listeners about politics, current affairs, the family and
society in general. The same programme was presented and produced in the Lozi
and Kaonde languages as Singanyeganye
and Mbulaiko
respectively.
Dr.
Vidali woud also state the importance of other local language programmes on the
Home Service (Radio One) such as the Nyanja’s Phochezda Madzulo (meaning to hang around in the evening), Ifyabukaya in Bemba (meaning things you
know), Malikopo, a Tonga programme
of a hero advising people in urban areas whose income had become low to go back
to the land).
As
we got deeper into the importance of vernacular or local languages in community
broadcasting, we were first agreed that radio is the most popular mass medium
in Zambia and that at the moment Zambia had a four tier broadcasting system
that comprises public, commercial, community and religious broadcasting.
This
statement had been further made by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA)
in its submission to the Parliamentary Committee on Information and
Broadcasting in November, 2014 and I quote, “A
Public broadcaster is one that broadcasts for public benefit rather than for
commercial purposes. Whereas, according t the IBA Act, a Commercial broadcaster
is one that provides a diverse range of programming addressing a wide section
of the country. It provides an appropriate amount of local and national programming.
On
the other hand, Community and Religious broadcasting is one that reflects the
needs of the people in the community which includes the cultural language and
demographic needs. It focusses on the provision of programmes that highlight
grassroots community issues such as developmental, environmental and
educational with Religious broadcasting focusing on the religious beliefs and
needs of the people and provide a distant broadcasting service dealing
specifically with religious issues,” end of quote.
The
emergence of local language usage as a central component of Community Radio is
an outcome of the liberalized market that has shifted broadcasters’ attention
to the rural audiences as the largest section of the population of Zambia. For
instance, rural populations are always a focal point in terms of government
policy making and in the highlighting of activities carried out by the
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and any organization that is concerned
with improving the living standards and conditions of the under-privileged. It
can also be used to address issues focusing on agriculture, the environment and
tourism.
Politically,
ethnic tensions, human rights and corruption can be addressed and ‘digested’
fully in the usage of a local language on a Community Radio. Other issues include how low literacy levels,
gender disparities, problems of HIV/AIDS and any other communicable diseases
can be tackled.
Local
language on Community Radio can also contribute to a positive media step
towards information, entertainment and education provision. For this reason, it
is expected that Community Radio that uses local language in its broadcasts should
carry more local content that is relevant to their target population. Kariba FM
located in Siavonga, as an example, would be expected to address issues that
affect the farming and fishing community in Siavonga or indeed highlight any
other issue that deeply affects people in Siavonga area.
Herbert Macha a media expert, who was
instrumental in the launch of Kariba FM Radio says, “The radio broadcasts in
Siavonga, Chirundu and some parts of Zimbabwe. People in the area predominantly
speak Tonga and a bit of Goba. 70 percent of programmes are in Tonga and only
30 per cent are in English.”
According
to Macha, for a long time people in the area had no or poor reception from ZNBC
and therefore were forced to listen in to Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) whose programmes are in Shona and Ndebele.
He
adds, “You must also understand that there are Tonga speaking people in
Zimbabwe and this radio has linked the two peoples’ who unfortunately found
themselves on either side of the Kariba.
In the same line one would expect Mazabuka FM Radio
to address issues of interest to the local community. The role of Mazabuka FM,
Kariba FM, Liseli, Lyambai, Radio Mano, Chikuni, Chikaya and the rest of the
other Community Radio Stations spread across Zambia cannot be over emphasized.
Against
this background, it could be said that Community Radio plays an important role
in peoples’ lives. It gives people a sense of the world they live in. They get
information and news on what is happening within their locality, country and
the world at large. It allows people who are otherwise excluded from other
forms of mainstream media such as print media, a channel to express their
voices and a role to play in public discourse. But at the end of it all, the
local language plays a catalyst role.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ben Kangwa is a broadcast journalist and Media Consultant.
No comments:
Post a Comment