KAYANZA January 26th (ABP) – Listeners of Radio Ubuzima, a community radio station broadcasting in Kayanza province (northern Burundi), and its staff met on Sunday January 23, 2022, in the headquarters of that province, with a view to getting to know each other better.
The director of that radio, Mr. Jonas Mashurushuru says that this kind of encounter allows the medium to be known by the public. He calls on the community to take ownership of it and on the administration to get involved in the survival and viability of this medium, which is only three years old.
According to Mr. Mashurushuru, that meeting was organized by a group of radio listeners who formed themselves into a group called “radio ambassadors”, with a view to getting to know each other because they only got along the radio during broadcasts.
Mr. Mashurushuru indicated that the added value of this meeting is that the listeners will be able to think of a project which they will be able to implement together as did those of Butaganzwa who have a small association bringing together the listeners of the said radio.
As for Radio Ubuzima FM, he said he was confident that it is listened to because there are people in the hills who talk about the importance of the radio to those who, perhaps, do not listen to it. However, the director of Ubuzima FM radio pointed out that they are in great need of material and financial support. Thus, he asked the administration to become more involved in it so that the radio can have financial means and to the population, to take ownership of it and to understand that its involvement in its development is essential.
On the side of the provincial administration, the adviser to the governor of Kayanza, in charge of social affairs, Mr. Sylvain Bakanibona, hailed the contribution of the radio to the life of the province and the multisectoral achievements of Radio Ubuzima FM. He, on the same occasion, called on the people of Kayanza to take ownership of it, even if it means creating groups of listeners in all the communes of the province.
Note that this radio mainly deals with subjects related to reproductive health and that it opened its doors in 2019.