I wrote the article below in 1988. It was published in the September 1988 edition of Communication, the journal of the British DX Club (an association of radio enthusiasts and hobbyists).
If you find this article interesting, have a look at two others I wrote at the time:
Clandestine radio in East Africa in 1987
Sudanese clandestine radio activity in 1987
The 1988 article:
There have been several changes to the clandestine radio scene in east Africa since my last articles on this subject appeared in Communication (May and September 1987). The two major developments causing these changes have been an upsurge in the activities of groups opposed to the present government in Ethiopia and an improvement in that country’s relations with Somalia.
Developments in Ethiopia
The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) is the largest and most active of several organisations which have been fighting against the Ethiopian government since the early 1960s. These groups wish to restore to Eritrea (a region of northern Ethiopia) the autonomy it enjoyed in the period after the Second World War.
In March 1988 the EPLF launched a massive military offensive in Eritrea. This offensive attracted considerable attention abroad and the EPLF’s radio station, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea (VOBME), played a major role in publicising the Front’s victories which, it was claimed, included the death, injury and capture of tens of thousands of government troops.
In the neighbouring region of Tigray, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) used the preoccupation of government forces with the EPLF to intensify their own campaign of guerrilla warfare. The TPLF and EPLF also took the opportunity of the improvement in their fortunes to re-establish cooperation between themselves, which had broken down a few years ago over ideological differences.
Following this renewal of relations, both VOBME and the TPLF’s own station, Voice of the Tigray Revolution (VOTR), began to give publicity not only to their own activities but also to each others’ and to those of other rebel groups opposed to the Ethiopian government. VOTR itself has been heard again after a period of inactivity.
Some years ago both stations shared the same transmitters. Now the VOTR seems to have acquired its own facilities. Both VOBME and VOTR claim to broadcast from “liberated areas” of Eritrea and Tigray respectively and I think those claims are genuine, given that it is known that much of the two regions is in rebel hands.
Somalia and Ethiopia end their radio war...
Meanwhile, other opposition stations continue to broadcast their message from outside Ethiopia or, to be more precise, Sudan.
In the past Somalia has also acted as a base for anti-Ethiopian radio activities. However, in April 1988 Somalia and Ethiopia reached an agreement providing for the normalisation of diplomatic relations, the exchange of POWs captured in the 1977-78 war between the two countries and the cessation of hostile propaganda activities.
Within a few days of this agreement two stations had closed down: Radio Halgan (which broadcast from Addis Ababa in support of two Ethiopian-backed Somali opposition groups) and Voice of the Western Somali and Somali Abo Liberation Fronts (which broadcasts from Mogadishu to the ethnic Somali population in the Ogaden desert region of eastern Ethiopia, or “western Somalia” as they referred to it).
... but Sudan and Ethiopia step up their hostilities
Although the Somali-Ethiopian “radio war” has come to an end, that between Ethiopia and Sudan continues, despite peace talks between the two governments. In fact, the propaganda battle has intensified and there are now three clandestine or semi-clandestine stations operating from Sudan, almost certainly from the same site.
Two are aimed at Ethiopia: Radio Voice of Ethiopian Unity (which supports a US-backed opposition group) and Voice of Oromo Liberation (the Oromos are a large ethnic group who live mainly in southern Ethiopia).
The third station is National Unity Radio (NUR), which started life in 1986 as a “black” operation designed to counteract the propaganda of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). However, since October 1987 NUR has adopted a more “official” line. Suspicions that all these three stations are using the same transmitting facilities in Sudan were heightened when they all went off the air at the same time when Sudan was hit by the recent disastrous floods.
Meanwhile, Radio SPLA continues to broadcast from Addis Ababa, and in recent programmes has been criticising the Sudanese government’s handling of the disaster.
Schedules (all subject to frequent variation):
Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea: 0400-0700, 0900-1100 and 1400-1700 GMT on 14330 and 7485 kHz (both highly variable).
Voice of the Tigray Revolution: 0400-0500, 1500-1630 and 1900-2030 GMT on 9343, 9311 and 7830 kHz.
Radio Voice of Ethiopian Unity: 1800-2000 GMT. Try 11180, 9665, 9660, 9655, 9430, 9425, 7200 and 7100 kHz (no more than two frequencies are used at any one time).
Voice of Oromo Liberation: 1530-1600 GMT on 9550 kHz.
National Unity Radio: 1400-1500 GMT on 11710, 9550, 9435 or 7100 kHz (no more than two frequencies are used at any one time).
Radio SPLA: 1100-1200 and 1300-1400 GMT (including English) on 11710 and 9550 kHz.
Reception of all these stations in theoretically possible in the UK.
Happy hunting! Chris
© 1988 and 2019. Material may be reproduced if attributed to Chris Greenway and the British DX Club.
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