UGANDA: Radio Wa FM, a Community Station Propagating Peace in Northern Uganda
Radio Wa 89.8Fm building, a Community Station owned by Lira Catholic Diocese
Fr Isaac Ojok
The local FM Radio Station called Radio Wa was established in Uganda’s Lira Diocese with the vision to promote evangelization among the people of God in Northern Uganda and beyond.
It was in 2001 when Radio Wa which literally means (Our Radio) in Luo, with the frequency 89.8, was first situated at Ngetta Catholic Mission near the main parish church which is 8Kms from Lira town along Kitgum road.
By that time, the entire population in the areas of Lango and Acholi were thrown in to instability caused by the then insurgency of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels-LRA of the illusive leader Joseph Kony.
The locals here had started witnessing the brutality of rebels in burning grass-thatched houses, attacks on public and private vehicles, abductions of teenagers and forceful conscription to the rebel activities, including other crimes like killing of people in the Internally Displaced Peoples’ Camps-(IDPs) among other war crimes and crimes against humanity.
So, at the height of that conflict, Radio Wa a community station was established to offer the local population isolated in towns and villages information that they needed to know about the movement of the rebels, however to the rebels, the information meant that they were closely being monitored and this meant they could be prone to attacks by the government troops.
As people would have it, the management of Radio Wa at this time had designed special program called, “Karibu” which means in Kiswahili welcome with the vision to entice rebels and the children who were abducted forcefully to take advantage and return home. During the “Karibu” program, political and cultural leaders including the children returned or rescued from captivity would come and appeal to the rebels to abandon the war and make way home.
These defection messages to the rebels was observed as a setback to their warring activities because many teenagers were escaping and abandoning the rebel activities to return home and as a result, government and other key stake holders began to note radio Wa’s contribution in pacifying Northern Uganda through messages of dialogue, reconciliation and forgiveness.
From its humble beginning in 2001 and the continued struggle in peace mediation within a short period of time, the management of radio began receiving threatening messages from the rebels signaling danger that would see the radio burnt. And as time went on, the station was burnt down on 27th September 2002 by the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) so as to avoid such broadcasts from radio Wa any more.
But as it later came to be told, the destruction of Radio by the rebels was regretted by the people in terms of getting information because people would be told about the movement of the rebels to enable locals take precaution.
From this time, the contribution of radio Wa to peace building in northern Uganda was noted by the local, national and international communities and other humanitarian agencies who later began to miss radio Wa after it was burnt.
It did not take long that after even if the radio equipment had been burnt and reduced to ruins, Fr John Fraser (RIP) the founding director shortly on 25th March 2003 reestablished the radio and this time as it hit the air waves again, it was relocated from Ngetta Mission to Lira town, now a city in parish hall within Lira cathedral church premises.
With its new motto, “Blessed are the Peace Makers” as drawn from the gospel of St Matthew 5:9, the radio resumed its initial mission and started striving for peace building in Northern Uganda since the greatest population of people were still by then living in the Camps.
Having recognized the contribution of the station in pacifying the region, the government of Uganda, through Uganda Communications Commission on 3rd August 2006, granted the management of radio the liberty to increase the transmitter power of radio Wa from 2.5 Kw to 4.0 Kw to enable the station to attain wider coverage area and to continue broadcasting messages of reconciliation, dialogue and forgiveness when the war victims from Lango and Acholi were returning from the camps to their ancestral homes.
According to testimonies from the audience, the station is not only serving Northern Uganda, because the coverage of its transmitter power is now reaching areas in North Western and North Eastern parts of Uganda including some parts of South Sudan and other places respectively.
In that regard, it is existing to serve a peaceful, productive population with the continued mission to promote harmony, justice and development among the diverse communities that even after the war, the Radio still engages the community in programming that creates peace, healing after the conflicts that lasted for almost two decades.
Among the programming that creates peace is the Peace Maker, a special segment designed to address the adverse effects of the conflict, like land wrangles, post-traumatic stress disorder, create mindset change, advocate for poverty eradication, fight ignorance in community and also gender based violence among others. The program has helped to nurture people, restore hope in lives of war victims especially the formerly abductees.
Similarly, the station is fully championing “Peace and Prayer Week”, a special platform designed in Gulu Ecclesiastical province to reunite people from diverse cultures in Northern Uganda to focus on one common vision for the good of the people of God after war in the region. The program is annually held on rotational basis within the province with religious, cultural, civil, and political leaders including the local people coming together to discuss matters of common interest. By participating in such a program, it shows the level of collaboration, partnership that the station holds with other Commissions like Justice and Peace, Caritas among other partners.
Heart and Soul is another program on radio Wa that starts from 3:00am -6:30am (East African Time) daily, it exists to lead people to God and nurture believers in their spiritual growth. In this program, a platform is given to the audience to meditate upon the Word of God and the best gospel hymns to inspire people. This is the foundation of all programs at the station.
Additionally, the recitation of the holy Rosary, Divine Mercy chaplet and Angelus prayers is a source of inspiration and joy to members of the audience because this helps them to be always in mood of prayers whenever they are having access to their radio receivers.
“Calling home” is a program designated to exhibit the closeness of the station and the entire church to the inmates who are incarcerated in government prisons within Lango sub region. The program provides platform and opportunity to the inmates to get in touch with their relatives and other loved ones even when they are far away from their homes. It is done in such a way that the inmates are always made to put their messages in writing, and after wards they are brought and disseminated live on radio by a catechist assigned to serve in prison.
The Day Breaker program which is commonly referred to as “Yaa Malo” is from 8:15am -1200 Noon (EAT), it begins on Monday to Friday weekly. This is a platform where matters regarding development, good governance among the cultural, civil, political authorities in the region are discussed to enable them come up with comprehensive vision for the people and the development of the area to take shape after the war amid many challenges.
Today at radio Wa, challenges surrounding the lives of children, women, widows, the elderly and other marginalized categories of people as well as challenges affecting education, health sectors, and economic growth are discussed with the continued mission and aim to derive the solution that leads to comfort and peace in the community.
Radio Wa engages the population to live in harmony with the environment through advocacy program on environmental protection like tree planting drives among others so as to foster and pave way for socio-economic transformation by means of improved and healthy agricultural production amidst other post war challenges.
With the support of experienced staff, board of directors and other partners, Radio Wa feels proud that even in the utmost difficult and life-threatening moments of the insurgency in Northern Uganda, it was able to provide a valuable service to the people up to date.
Despite its limited resources, the station is now taken as the inspiration of hope and resilience in the lives of the greater population in Northern Uganda and beyond because of its closeness to the people and the legacy set at the time when the region was faced with the insurgency of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels-LRA.
Today, any person can also listen to radio Wa online through www.radiowa.org
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