SFCG Sierra Leone Radio Station Struggles to Survive

By Immanuel Wolff

Intern Immanuel Wolff spent 5 weeks in Sierra Leone conducting research for a community radio assessment

Radio Kolenten staff climb the transmitter to scope out the problem.

Radio Kolenten is one of SFCG’s partner community radio stations in Sierra Leone.  Earlier this year the transmitter at the station broke. Though a seemingly minute problem, this was a sign that the yet developing Radio Kolenten would have difficulty maintaining itself.  It was June 20th and bolt of lightning presumably struck the transmitter antenna one evening

The next day, the one staff member with some knowledge about electronic equipment had a failed attempt at repairing the device.

Luckily, some technicians from Freetown-based Sky Radio were in the area and stopped by to diagnose the problem – the power unit inside the transmitter was broken. The opportunity for repair seemed grim as the rural station had no funds to purchase a new one.

But the station manager’s sister loaned Le 350,000 (approx. USD 110) for the repairs. As neither the required know-how nor spare parts were available in Kambia, one of the staff members took the transmitter to Freetown for repairs, and later to Bo when they discovered the parts were unavailable in the capital city. On June 25 the radio began testing transmissions.

During the following days, transmission continued to be irregular—the signal cutting off unexpectedly every fifteen to twenty minutes. Staff climbed the pole to fix the antenna, which was assumed to be responsible for this, but without success. Eventually, after five days of trial and error, the problem was identified (the transmitter was overheating) and solved.

During this time, community members were very unhappy. Radio Kolenten staff were overwhelmed with people stopping by the station to ask when they could expect to tune in to FM 92.4 again. Many likened the situation to “darkness.” Traditional healers were particularly upset because they say the radio is essential for them to announce outbreaks of diseases. In response to this outpour of concern, radio staff were frustrated that very few community members offered financial assistance to help solve the problem.

This short episode illustrates the lack of financial sustainability faced by many community radio stations. To date, it is unclear how Radio Kolenten will repay its debt as it has no steady source of income.  Without community (or other) support, Radio Kolenten’s continued operation is by no means certain.