John Masuku, executive director of Radio Voice of the People (VOP) in Zimbabwe on a visit to Copenhagen in February 2009. Photo: Rasmus Steen/IMS.

Media will have an important role to play reporting on the new government in Zimbabwe sworn in this week. Interview with the executive director of Radio Voice of the People

This week Zimbabwe turned a new page in its political history as Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC), was sworn in as the Prime Minister in a new coalition government formed by MDC and the former ruling party, ZANU-PF under President Robert Mugabe's leadership.

After years in opposition, MDC won a sweeping victory in the elections on 29 March. Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party took forever to acknowledge the results, and to remedy the situation a second round was determined to finally set the score on 27 June. In the time between 29 March and 27 June, Zimbabwe saw some of the worst incidents of violence against voters in an attempt to harass and intimidate people to refrain from voting for the opposition party.

Role of media persists despite new era

These are historical facts that must not be forgotten. Hope is that things will get better from now on with MDC on board. For the media, however, the job remains the same: Media should maintain a critical eye on the actions and conduct of the government, says John Masuku, executive director of Radio Voice of the People, a radio station whose airwaves reaches out to all corners of Zimbabwe.

VOP is one of IMS' partners in Zimbabwe, and on a visit to the IMS office in Copenhagen during the historical week, executive director John Masuku shared his views on the role of media in Zimbabwe in light of the new government:

- VOP is an open platform to raise issues of importance and debate it in public. We invite all voices - and will continue to do so. And we will continue to grill MDC members of government as we did with former government representatives, he says.

Having just learnt that a member of the MDC is appointed Finance Minister, he says with a smile:

- I'm going home to interview the new Finance Minister! Seriously, we grill government representatives to challenge them to come up with solutions. VOP was established to develop Zimbabwe - not to blame one side, but to build Zimbabwe.

Odds: 50-50 to coalition government

Asked about the chances of the new coalition government succeeding, John Masuku says:

- In my personal opinion, I think it is worth trying for MDC to go into government now. They have to show will to take on responsibility - and I think they have a 50-50 chance. It's all about power sharing, he says, suggesting that the success of the new government in Zimbabwe rests heavily on whether the coalition may get to work or resort to power struggles.

Radio with a  mission

VOP was established in 2000 to lobby and advocate for political economic, cultural and social development through broadcasting that served as an alternative voice to the government-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holding. Broadcasting one hour a day between 19hrs and 20 hrs seven days a week, VOP focused on social issues - and was among the first to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS pandemic that swept Southern Africa in those days.

After several attacks on VOP's office in Hara, which included a raid in 2002 where offices were raided and equipment removed and a bomb blast later the same year which completely Ely destroyed VOP's offices, the radio station relocated its operations to Cape Town in South Africa where, today, all content is edited and broadcast back into Zimbabwe over short waves.

A radio for the community

Today VOP has listeners all over Zimbabwe - especially in the countryside where listening to the radio is the most accessible way of keeping abreast with the news. And resting on previous successes, VOP is currently engaging in disseminating information about the cholera epidemic that has killed at least 3400 people.

By simply gathering all available information about the epidemic and broadcast it, VOP is able to alert its listeners on where the epidemic is spreading, spread public information on how to avoid the disease and what to do in case people contract the disease.

Asked whether VOP sees itself as a community radio, John Masuku shakes takes a minute to ponder, then he says:

- Our signal covers all of Zimbabwe, and the radio programmes are produced by professionals, so I wouldn't call us a community radio. On the other hand, we produce programmes using the indigenous languages of Zimbabwe, which makes us attractive to listeners throughout Zimbabwe. I therefore think the correct term would be to call VOP a radio for the communities in Zimbabwe.