Good afternoon. Clouds of suspicion are hanging over the decision to suddenly shut down three local radio stations in Nampula province. The National Institute of Communications of Mozambique, the regulator which ordered the temporary shutdown, has reportedly told them that their radio signals are interfering with aircraft at Nampula airport. And yet these stations have operated for decades without incident.
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What has happened in that time, however, is that the government has repeatedly clashed with the radio stations. Frelimo has never been reconciled with the idea of independent radio. It sees state-owned Rádio Moçambique (RM) as a government mouthpiece, and would prefer people got their news from there. But in Nampula province, Rádio Encontro is more popular than RM, an impressive feat given that Encontro does not even broadcast across the whole province (it has tried several times to get a province-wide licence without success, and without a clear explanation as to why it cannot have one). Its coverage has been fairly critical of the government, and it also broadcast live election results by voting table during last year’s general elections.
