Radio Rwanda (est. 1961)
is a
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...
of the
Rwandan Broadcasting Agency (RBA), a public broadcaster that also owns
Rwandan Television (RTV), Magic FM and other public radio stations.
Before the attack of the
Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) on October 1st, 1990, Radio Rwanda was the only national radio station in Rwanda, which represented both the views of the state and that of the party in power. Shortly after the start of the war, the FPR created its own radio station,
Radio Muhabura.
In March 1992, Radio Rwanda began to broadcast false information regarding the possible assassination of Hutu officials, after which many Tutsis were consequently killed in the Bugesera region. When the transitional government was installed in April 1992, it demanded a programming change of the radio by President Habyarimana. This preserved the transitional government's role in the state radio, but stopped that of the President's party, the
MRND
The National Revolutionary Movement for Development (french: Mouvement révolutionaire national pour le développement, MRND) was the ruling political party of Rwanda from 1975 to 1994 under President Juvénal Habyarimana. From 1978 to 1991, the M ...
. Due to the growing influence of Radio Muhabura, radical Hutus created a new radio station in 1993, named
Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
(RTLM) ( rw, Radiyo yigenga y'imisozi igihumbi) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role in inciting the Rwandan genocide that took place from April to July 1994, and has been d ...
, abbreviated as RTLM. RTLM frequently made hateful statements against the Tutsis, and several of its journalists were eventually convicted of inciting
Genocide against the Tutsi. Despite Radio Rwanda and RTLM being two distinct, independent radio stations, they were broadcast at the same wavelengths at different times, which led the population to confuse them.
Radio Rwanda was reestablished between 1994 and 2000, with financing from the German government.
Today Radio Rwanda has become a national Public radio with other 6 regional stations including Magic FM (Kigali), Radio Rusizi (Rusizi), Radio Musanze (Musanze), Radio Nyagatare (Nyagatare, Radio Rubavu (Rubavu) and Radio Huye (Huye). The current director is Aldo Havugimana.
In 2013, the singer
Cécile Kayirebwa sued several Rwandan radio stations including Radio Rwanda. She noted that her music was frequently broadcast, but she had received no royalties.
[Court orders Orinfor, Isango star pay Rwf 8.6M to Kayirebwa]
February 2013, GreatLakesVoice, Retrieved 4 March 2016
See also
*
Media of Rwanda
References
External links
Official website{{coord missing, Rwanda
Radio stations in Rwanda
1961 establishments in Rwanda
Radio stations established in 1961