Ethiopia licences first private FM radio stations

April 3, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia has issued its first broadcasting licences allowing private radio stations to operate in the Horn of Africa nation, officials said Monday.

The licences were issued to two radio stations which will broadcast on FM, following a decision reached in February, according to Sissay Melese, spokesman for the Ethiopian Broadcast Authority (EBA).

“We have issued licences for two private stations,” Sissay Melese told AFP. “These stations will have to be operational within the next 12 months if they don’t want to lose their licence.”

The stations, Zami Public Connections and Tinsae Fine Arts, were selected from among 12 contenders on the basis of their financial status and programme content, Sissay said.

“Every broadcaster has the right to cover all the news in a country as far as it doesn’t contribute to create violence … and as far as they abide by the law of the country,” said the official.

Sissay, however, warned that legal action would be taken against the stations if they contravened regulations.

“After a programme has been broadcast, if it is not respecting the law we are allowed to take legal action, but we don’t have the right to censorship,” he said.

Addis Ababa has come under criticism in recent months for infringing on human rights and cracking down on independent media, notably since the eruption of violent street protests over alleged fraud in the May 15 polls that resulted in the death of at least 84 people in June and November.

(ST)