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Radio: A theatre for the blind – Part Three……from status symbol to war aids

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By Dr Michelina Andreucci

THE radio came of age during the First World War.
Military leaders recognised its significance for communicating with the infantry and ships at sea.
Several advancements were made during the First World War (1914–1918) to the radio, making it more compact, yet powerful.
After the Second World War in 1945, the expansion of broadcasting became British official policy in most of its African colonies; ostensibly to educate and inform indigenous African listeners.
Aided by the transistor radio which was commercially developed during the1950s-1960s, making radio listening mobile, vast numbers of cheap battery-operated transistor radios were sold throughout Africa and Zimbabwe.
Due to wars, radio also developed rapidly in other parts of Africa.
For example, the free Belgian Government, exiled from German-occupied Belgium, set up a shortwave station in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), Belgian Congo (Zaire), for broadcasts to Belgium.
The Free French set up their own radio stations in Cameroon and French Congo, and the French Vichy Government had its own station in Dakar, Senegal.
Radios, the truly wonderful ‘great spirit’ in a small box, penetrated our souls and minds and left indelible images; they forced your imagination to take you to spaces your eyes could not see.
They became a status symbol, coveted to such an extent they were incorporated in our cultural schemes.
Radios were often demanded as part of a bride price (lobola).
The love for the radio also wrecked untold damage on guerilla combatants fighting in the bush against the Rhodesian army, during Zimbabwe’s liberation war.
In an attempt to frustrate their enemy’s operations, the Rhodesians developed horrendous strategies; among them radios were fitted with frequency modulating devices that would explode when radios were switched on.
The Broadcasting Act in Zimbabwe was promulgated during the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Federation in 1957; a legal framework which ZBC followed.
During the minority Rhodesian era, the Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation (RBC) was controlled by the Rhodesian Government’s department of the Ministry of Information, which used radio and television effectively as instruments of their racist propaganda for preserving colonial white domination and its values through the dissemination of white minority ideology to the local populace.
In Zimbabwe, radios were manufactured by local enterprises, such as Supersonic Radio Manufacturing and WRS.
Ian Smith’s FM radio sets, aptly branded with the name ‘Chief’, were distributed to Zimbabwean traditional chiefs in rural areas, in the hope they would sway the indigenous countrymen to turn against the guerillas.
During the period of Zimbabwe’s war of liberation, other radios were manufactured under the name ‘Commando’, which were issued to Rhodesian soldiers fighting in the bush, in an endeavour to keep up their morale.
For their benefit and psychological welfare, radio programmes through which they could relay messages to loved ones and request favourite songs were aired. ‘Forces Requests’ was a favourite with Sally Donaldson on Saturday afternoon.
In the 1970s, news broadcasts were essential for the people of Zimbabwe; transistor radios were coveted, especially by the freedom fighters in the field.
Knowing this, the Selous Scouts and Special Branch of the Rhodesian armed forces fitted transistor radios with secret homing devices, effective within a 50-kilometre radius.
Usually the transmitters were active when the radios were turned off, allowing the Fireforce to conduct follow-up operations in the knowledge that the guerillas would be asleep at the time.
In another diabolical scheme called ‘road runners’, a charge of plastic explosive was fitted into each radio so that when the ‘on/off’ switch was activated a prescribed number of times, the charge would detonate and explode.
Radio programmes on the Rhodesian African Service under the influence of colonial propaganda were heavily biased against the liberation movement and liberation forces.
The result was that at the peak of the protracted guerilla war, around the early to mid-1970s, the two main fighting movements, ZIPRA and ZANLA, established their own clandestine radio stations in Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania.
Communicating via short and medium-wave bands, these exiled radio stations were also popular with the indigenous population.
The Voice of Zimbabwe services became a motivational instrument for the liberation struggle.
I recall the inspirational voice of Victor Mhizha Murira saying: “Aluta Continua.
“Victory is certain!”
This emphasis continued until independence in 1980, when the ZBC morphed from the RBC.
An immediate priority for the newly elected independent Government was to re-organise the policies and administration of the mass media.
Tirivafi Kangai was appointed the new deputy director-general at the end of 1980, when he replaced Jimmy Neill, who continued to assist in the expansions at ZBC.
Among the first group of indigenous radio journalists to join ZBC were Simon Makaza, Timothy Makoni, Nyika Bara, Masimba Musarira and Lorraine Garwe, who joined the corporation in 1981 to become one of the first Zimbabwean woman to head a ZBC radio station.
She later joined ZTV as a current affairs producer-presenter.
Other radio luminaries at the time were Ishmael Kadungure, Ben Musoni, Steve Kavhai, Connie Makaya and Basil Chidyamatamba.
In the late 1980s to early 1990s, the late Cde Alexander Kanengoni was head of television services.
He was influential in the development of indigenous content and staff for television.
Concurrently, with about 40 African countries gaining independence in the 1960s, radio played a major nation-building role in Africa.
It was the medium by which many indigenous people gained everyday knowledge of their new national and international status.
Radio became the most widespread mass-medium in Africa, with important consequences for Africa’s educational, cultural and political life.
Radio broadcasting is crucial for human development.
It can enhance socio-economic welfare of a society.
Radio’s contribution to national education and development has been and will continue to be, of major importance to developing countries worldwide vis-a-vis the use of radio in campaigns for better health, as in campaigns against diseases such as malaria, cholera, dysentery, polio, leprosy tuberculosis HIV and AIDS.
Educational programmes directed at adults, schoolchildren, teachers, farmers, health workers and many other groups messages concerning family planning, infant nutrition, other issues and interests, including the changing role of women, have also been broadcasted via radio.
At independence, as a guiding principle for the ZBC, the principal aim of broadcasting was to inform, educate and entertain the public.
Are they achieving this today?
Dr Michelina Rudo Andreucci is a Zimbabwean-Italian researcher, industrial design consultant and specialist hospitality interior decorator. She is a published author in her field.
For views and comments, email: linamanucci@gmail.com

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