D-Day for Zimbabwe's SW Radio Africa

D-Day for Zimbabwe's SW Radio Africa

• SW Radio Africa should be saved

• Zimbabwe's SW Radio Africa faces closure

• SAR FM internet radio launched in New York

• Mutasa's foul 'liar' rant at radio journalist

• UN urged to intervene in SW Radio jamming

• SW Radio Africa to broadcast on MW

• Joe Panganayi: the death of a good man

• Eric Knight joins Zim internet radio station

• Tshisa returns to airwaves on new Zim radio station

• New internet radio station launched

By Staff Reporter

SW RADIO Africa which broadcasts into Zimbabwe from London could be doing its last broadcast today after it exhausted its budget trying to beat jamming devices used by the Zimbabwe government.

The station which has been broadcasting on short wave since 2001 was forced into doing multiple broadcasts on both short wave and medium wave after President Robert Mugabe's regime bought sophisticated Chinese equipment to target the SW Radio Africa signal.

The station which recently won the 2005 Free Media Pioneer Award from the International Press Instititute is headed by Gerry Jackson who started Capitol Radio in Zimbabwe before its equipment was seized by police from the Meikles Hotel in Harare.

Jackson left for the United Kingdom, immediately setting up SW Radio Africa which has recruited top broadcast journalists from Zimbabwe including Tichaona Sibanda, Violet Gonda, Lance Guma, John Matinde and Tererayi Karimakwenda.

New Zimbabwe.com has been told the station needs at least £100 000 every month to continue broadcasting, or just over £1 million for a year.

"The biggest chunk of that money goes into paying for transmitters," a source at the station said.

The Zimbabwe government has publicly condemned the station, and has been revelling at the prospect of it shutting down. Government officials see SW Radio's problems as evidence of donor fatigue, but sources at the station say efforts aimed at beating the jamming had eaten into its budget.
TO LISTEN TO SW RADIO AFRICA: http://www.swradioafrica.com
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
mathuthu@newzimbabwe.com