Mozambique State Absorbs Community Radio, Raises Independence Concerns

Good afternoon. Across northern Mozambique, community radio stations established and managed by local associations are gradually being absorbed by the state-run Instituto de Comunicação Social (ICS). The stations often retain their names and continue broadcasting from the same buildings, but their independence—and with it one of the few means rural communities possess to hold local authorities to account—is disappearing. Radio is especially important in districts rarely reached by newspapers and television. Mozambique’s local stations fall broadly into four groups: those controlled by the state through the ICS; community stations run by civic associations, many affiliated with the community radio forum FORCOM; stations belonging to churches; and purely commercial broadcasters, found mainly in larger towns and cities. It is the association-run stations that provide the clearest form of independent community broadcasting. They answer to local management bodies rather than to the government, provincial governor or district administrator. They are also the stations now being lost. Already have an account? Log in