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Can radio help end conflict peacefully in Uganda?

Radio Mega is a joint initiative by DFID and the Government of Uganda that employed peaceful means to resolving the 18 year conflict in northern Uganda, covering wide parts in which the LRA rebels move.

Its objective has been to provide the population of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts with relevant and accurate information aimed at increasing opportunities for engagement with peace and development issues.

On Sunday 29 August 2006, the deputy leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) called Mega FM and used it to declare a cessation of hostilities following a signing of an agreement between the government of Uganda and the LRA in Juba.

Uganda begins ceasefire with LRA (BBC, August 2006)
UK supports peace process for Northern Uganda (October 2006)

A child soldier tunes in

Ugandan children playing in a camp in the north of the country Oryema (not his real name) was an LRA child soldier returning home with no idea of what to expect of life after the “bush”. He talks about life before his abduction by the rebels:

“What I remember of the time before abduction? We were living in houses in a village called Otong which is in Gaya Parish. We were living with my parents, we were altogether. Life was fine, we would go to school, I used to have many friends, we had enough space and we heard about nothing like war. We were still young. When I was abducted, that is when I realized that there is war. It was the first time in my life to see soldiers.”

Oryema was promoted to rank of Sergeant. Life in the bush became the only life he knew and his best friend was his radio.

"Life there was just like that, I did not feel anything bad about killing. Not until when I started listening to Radio Mega. They were having programs, music, and people sending greetings… about peace: come back home... I actually heard over the radio, how we used to move: we burnt homes …
"And I started to think: are we really fighting a normal war? That is when I started realizing that maybe there is something better than being here in the bush. And that is when I started learning that oh, so this feeling is bad. I started feeling that some of these orders are not genuine. I am trying to fight for liberty, for the people. But now if you are killing the same people, whom are we going to rule?"

About MEGA FM, and our support

MEGA went on air in August 2002 and quickly established a large and very enthusiastic listener ship across large parts of northern Uganda. The station carries a wide range of programmes including, news, drama, cultural events and features, and other specific programmes covering themes in development, human rights and conflict reduction.

The LRA leadership are known to listen to the station and on a number of occasions have joined radio phone-in talk shows and held discussions with government and civil society representatives.

The total project value was £900,000 over 5 years. Africa Conflict Prevention Pool funds amounted to £650,000; DFID supplied the rest. This included the construction of purpose-built studios, transmitters and production equipment as well as staff training and development.

The project has now finished and the radio is fully self-sustaining from advertising revenue and sponsored programmes. DFID Uganda are currently exploring the possibility of some limited ongoing support for specific peace-building programmes, such as radio drama.

Internal review of DFID's engagement with the conflict in Northern Uganda (Feb 2006)

Key facts

Mega FM has become a very important source of information relied on by a large portion of general population in northern Uganda, especially in the Acholi sub region. Evidence also suggests that the station played a major part in encouraging LRA members to come out of the bush. Lessons learned video/DVD was recently completed and should soon be available by end of April 2007 from the DFID Uganda Information Manager.
Media initiatives can help build peace in situations by using their wide appeal and popularity in a mediating role, by strengthening civil society or by actively targeting the causes of conflict, such as misunderstanding the "the enemy"
As the Rwanda Genocide only too clearly and terribly showed, the local and national media can also play an extremely negative role in inciting people to violence, hatred and ethnic intolerance
It is important that in conflict situations the role of the media is analysed and that DFID and other donors actively consider whether they have a part to play in supporting positive, accurate and tolerant media approaches to conflict issues.

23 January, 2007