Posted: September 10

Radio Dialogue might finally get a voice

Father Nigel Johnson from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, might finally be able to put his radio station, Radio Dialogue, on the air. For the past several years the station has been fully equipped and staffed, lacking only a license, which the government has not wanted to give. The current government, on the other hand, has been increasingly restrictive on communications media. Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and Father Johnson is one of a few Jesuits working there. He just sent me a surprisingly hopeful email which says: “The Government Gazette has just announced prices for application for broadcasting licences. I'm not sure that it is to be understood that they will actually grant licences to people such as Radio Dialogue. But at least it means we're entering a new stage in the battle to get a licence. We'll apply and argue our case, and see what influential people we can get on our side, and see how far we get.”