Radio Okapi

Radio Okapi is a radio network that operates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On an annual budget of USD4.5 million, a staff of 200 provide news and information to the entire urban population of the DRC. Radio Okapi provides programming in French and in the four national languages of Congo: Lingala, Kituba, Swahili and Tshiluba.

History Radio Okapi was created by the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) and the Swiss NGO Fondation Hirondelle. The agreement between MONUC and the Congolese government foresaw the creation of a radio network to inform the Congolese population of the MONUC's efforts. MONUC and the Fondation Hirondelle submitted a plan in 2001 to the United Nations, and the radio network went live on 25 February 2002. The station takes its name from the endangered okapi, the elusive mammal native to the rainforest of northern Congo.

In 2011 The Economist said that Radio Okapi was "one of Africa’s most admirably independent radio services"."Congo’s election: That sinking feeling: A general election in the Democratic Republic of Congo may end in tears", The Economist, dated 26 November 2011. Retrieved on 15 February 2012.

Mary Myers, in the essay "Well-Informed Journalists Make Well-Informed Citizens: Coverage of Governance Issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo," said that the radio station "raised the bar for other indigenous radio and TV stations in the country."Myers, Mary. "Well-Informed Journalists Make Well-Informed Citizens: Coverage of Governance Issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo." Printed in: Odugbemi, Sina and Taeku Lee (editors). Accountability Through Public Opinion: From Inertia to Public Action. World Bank Publications, 2011. 155. Retrieved from Google Books on 15 February 2012. 0821385569, 9780821385562. Other area radio stations copied Radio Okapi's news gathering techniques, program concepts, and formats. Myers also said "Although Radio Okapi can be a thorn in the government's side at times, its stance of promoting peace and democracy and the strong role it plays in civic education have led to its recognition, even by the Minister of Information, as a national asset that the Democratic Republic of Congo could ill afford to lose."

On 13 June 2007, the station’s editor in chief for Bukavu, Serge Maheshe, was shot dead.

Transmitters Radio Okapi provides programming in French and in Lingala, Kituba, Swahili and Tshiluba, transmitting all day every day on:

Kinshasa 103.5 MHz Aru 88.0 MHz Bandundu 99.0 MHz Baraka 103.4 MHz Béni 92.0 MHz Bukavu 95.3 MHz Bunia 104.9 MHz Bunyakiri 103.2 MHz Butembo 92.9 MHz Dungu 103.4 MHz Gbadolite 93.0 MHz Gemena 95.4 MHz Goma 105.2 MHz Isiro 90.1 MHz Kalemie 105.0 MHz Kamina 104.3 MHz Kananga 93.0 MHz Kanyabayonga 96.0 MHz Kikwit 103.5 MHz Kindu 103.0 MHz Kisangani 94.8 MHz Lisala 104.3 MHz Lubumbashi 95.8 MHz Mahagi 96.0 MHz Manono 104.5 MHz Masisi 96.0 MHz Matadi 102.0 MHz Mbandaka 103.0 MHz Mbuji-Mayi 103.5 MHz Moba 102.4 MHz Rutshuru 95.3 MHz Tshomo Uni 106.5 MHz Uvira 105.3 MHz Walikale 104.9 MHz

Shortwave 9635 kHz (5 AM to 7 AM) 11690 kHz (5 PM to 6 PM)

Sources

In film Radio Okapi, radio de la vie, is a documentary produced by Pierre Guyot, 2006. It premiered on TV5 in June 2006. It examines the work of Breuil Munganga, a journalist at Radio Okapi.Catherine Bédarida, «Une radio pour la paix», article and interview with Pierre Guyot Le Monde supplement TV&Radio 7–8 January 2007, page 5. Guyot recalls the birth of Radio Okapi survient eight years before the Rwanda genocide, in the course of which Radio des Mille Collines had encouraged the massacres. It has been selected by many festivals in France, Canada, Central African Republic and Burkina Faso.Radio Okapi, radio de la vie was selected at: Festival international du grand reportage d'actualité et du documentaire de société (FIGRA) March 2006; Festival Ciné droits libres de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, November 2006; Documentary Month , France, November 2006; Assises internationales du journalisme Lille, March 2007; Festival international du film des droits de l'Homme Paris, March 2007, Colloque annuel de la Société Québécoise de Sciences Politiques , Université Laval, May 2007, Le Festival du Film des Droits de l'Homme, Bangui, Central African Republic, May 2007.

Radio Okapi

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