Central Darfur to establish four radio stations

The government of Central Darfur has agreed with the federal Ministry of Information on the establishment of FM broadcasting stations in the state.

After a meeting with Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman, Central Darfur Governor Jaafar Abdelhakim told reporters in Khartoum on Wednesday that the new project aims to connect the people of Darfur to “the current issues and cultures of their country through radio and television”.

The meeting decided to form a follow-up committee on these issues and the appointment of radio and television correspondents in Central Darfur.

Apart from a long-wave radio station in the state capital Zalingei, three other FM radio stations will be established in Jebel Marra, Wadi Salih, and Um Dukhun localities, “to cover the entire state,” he said.

Radio Dabanga

Late 2014, the broadcasts of Radio Dabanga were discussed in the federal parliament. The MPs stressed the need to disrupt the radio's “hostile activities” or completely stop them. They accused the Sudanese media of being “almost non-existent”, and asked the Minister of Information to establish radio stations, TV channels, newspapers, and a Sudanese satellite channel to counter Dabanga.

Speaker of parliament El Fateh Izzeddin gave the Ministry of Information a one-month ultimatum to create a remedial plan to cover the conflict zones in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Radio Dabanga broadcasts in shortwave to the whole of Sudan and neighbouring countries. Satellite broadcasts are confined to the larger cities. (See elsewhere on this site for audio feeds.)