New Gambian radio station launched

A new online radio station called Radio Alternative Voice has been launched in Gambia.

According to the site:

Specifically the objectives of the Radio AVG project are to:

• Establish an online radio station that has its programmes relayed by local radio stations in Senegal whose signals reach the Gambia;

• Report on the human rights situation in the Gambia;

• Ensure that people have the necessary information to make informed choices on issues affecting their lives and the governance situation in the Gambia and in the sub-region as a whole;

• Promote dialogue and respect for the right to information and the free exchange of knowledge in the Gambia;

• Reinforce and compliment civil society activities in areas of information dissemination and sharing.

There are three programs so far: Open Forum,Nenyu Waax Lep and Kaabayfoo.

More information:

“We cannot continue to live in a country where divergent views cannot be expressed,” said Amie Joof-Cole, a Dakar-based Gambian journalist and coordinator of the project.

“This is like a dream come true! I’m excited about the online radio and I hope it gives more voice to Gambians,” he said.

“Citizen FM has been closed down physically, but the voice of the people will continue to be heard,” Joof-Cole said.

Citizen FM, a popular radio station in the Gambia, has been illegally closed down by the authorities.

The new radio will partner some Senegalese private stations, whose signals reach the Gambia, until such time that it starts its own independent live broadcast.

This will help reach out to the larger Gambian communities especially those without Internet access or facilities.

The BBC profile of Gambia shows how journalism is under threat there:

Gambia's private media face severe restrictions, with radio stations and newspapers having to pay large licence fees.

A commission with wide-ranging powers, from issuing licences to jailing journalists, was set up under a 2002 media law. It was seen by critics as a threat to press freedom.

Further legislation introduced in late 2004 provided jail terms for journalists found guilty of libel or sedition.

Deyda Hydara, one of the press law's leading critics and the editor of private newspaper The Point, was shot dead days after the law was passed.

In 2006 media rights organisation Reporters Without Borders described the press freedom situation as "catastrophic".

Gambia is ruled by President Yahya Jammeh, who claimed last year that he could cure AIDS in three days.

He came to power in a 1994 coup, and was elected in September 1996.

"A response within three to 10 days and a three-day course is almost inconceivable for a disease like HIV/Aids," said Prof Coovadia, who heads the HIV research team at the University of KwaZulu Natal and is a member of South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign.

He said that science was many years away from finding a cure "so the fact that someone announces a cure like this is exceedingly difficult to accept".