Local Language Radio and Human Rights Awareness in Rural Kenya: a Study of Mulembe Fm in Emuhaya Sub-county, Western Kenya
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Date
2021Author
Alela, Johnhuss, O
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study sought to appraise local language radio in human rights awareness and education
in rural Kenya focusing on Mulembe FM’s Omuhabini programme. The specific objectives
were; to explore the aspects of human rights that Mulembe FM’s Omuhabini programme
educates on, to examine how Mulembe FM’s Omuhabini programme educates targeted
audiences on human rights in Emuhaya Sub-County, to assess the factors that hinder
effectiveness of Omuhabini programme in relaying information on human rights education
in Emuhaya Sub-county, to establish the role of the audience in promoting the effectiveness
of Omuhabini programme. Eighteen listeners were selected; the first nine were selected
using convenience sampling while the remaining were selected through snowball
technique. Additionally, Purposive sampling technique was used to select three participants
for key informant interviews. These key informants included the programme presenter, the
producer and the station manager. The eighteen listeners formed participants of the two
focus group discussions comprising of nine participants per group. The study adopted
qualitative methods to collect data through focus group discussions and face to face
interviews. The study was anchored on framing theory, human rights approach to
development and participatory communication approach. The study found that Omuhabini
programme addresses gender-based violence issues such as wife battering and sexual
abuse, social insecurity, protecting the rights of children around child labour and child
abuse and corruption alongside awareness and education. Findings also revealed,
Omuhabini programme was indeed effective in awareness creation, promoting the welfare
of the society as well as giving a voice to the vulnerable and marginalised groups in the
society including women and children, and that a positive change was being experienced
on perceptions and reporting of issues related to human rights. The study also found that
Omuhabini programme face several challenges including employee training and capacity
issues to effectively air content on human rights issues, censorship, and difficulties in
handling complacency and change resistance. There was also a challenge with quality of
local content production which was found to be still lagging with a decline in listener and
community involvement in the programme equally creating a challenge in the effectiveness
of the programme. The study recommends that more programmes especially on the everemerging
issues of post-election violence and electoral fraud that equally compromises
human rights issues would be helpful. Further, the study recommends that more airtimes
be allocated to such programmes that promote the welfare of the society as Omuhabini
programme to enhance reach and content coverage and that local experts on human rights
be invited to the show to eliminate issues of language barrier. Finally, this study
recommends a replication of the same study within an urban setup particularly in informal
settlements to establish the role of radio on creating awareness on human rights.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Arts [607]
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