GANTA, Nimba – During a joint press conference with Justice Minister Benedict Sannoh recently, Liberia’s Information Minister Lewis G. Brown said that regulations governing community radio stations would become more stringent, in light of the mob violence in Ganta.

“Before you become a fully functional community radio station, you would have to obtain a license, get registered, have well-trained staff,” Brown declared.

He said although the Ministry of Information does not determine the editorial policy of community radio stations, they should be aware that their purpose is to serve their communities.

He advised rural community radio stations to maintain an editorial policy that brings about peacebuilding and development to the people they are serving.

“You cannot claim to be owned by the community and then your editorial policy is geared towards tainting and harming the community [and] not building an infrastructure of peace and stability for the security of the community,” he added.

Brown noted that over time, radio stations that claim to be for the community are in the habit of preaching hate messages and inflaming tensions.

Even if the minister acknowledged the hard work of the radio personnel, he warned that support to the stations from the County Development Fund and the Social Development Fund can be withdrawn.

Brown’s statement came as a result of comments made by the Superintendent of Nimba County, Fong G. Zuagele, claiming that Community radio stations in Ganta were responsible for the intensity of the Sept. 30 violence in Ganta.

Zuagele accused the Voice of Gompa and Hot FM Ganta of conducting shows that incensed tensions. He also accused the management of Radio Kergheamahn of a live coverage of the violence on Sept. 30, something he said inflamed the situation. The authorities at the three media houses in Ganta have distanced themselves from the accusations, calling it a means of intimidating the press.

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah