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April 23, 2007

End of the Line for Djibo FM

On 12 April I received a phone call from a pastor in the south of Burkina, to tell me that we have once again been unsuccessful in our application for a radio license here in Djibo. Today I received the official confirmation that this is indeed the case.

The broadcasting license for Djibo was given instead to a local agriculture project which is due to close this year and which has already spent their funding.

During the application phase we were strongly advised to pay a small unofficial sum to each member of the ‘Conseil Superieur de Communication’ in order to sweeten them. The sum suggested was laughably small: 20,000 CFA ($40) for the president of the committee and 10,000 CFA ($20) for each of seven members. A grand total of $180.

Considering that our total budget for this project is in excess of $50,000, $180 would not have broken the bank. But as a board we had made a decision not to pay bribes. We thought that this kind of ruthless honesty was something that people would respect and God would honour. After all, the meaning of ‘Burkina Faso’ is ‘Land of Good and Upright Men’.

When I first heard the news that our application had been refused, it was a crushing disappointment. Disappointment in this country’s administration, disappointment in God and disappointment in myself. Could I have done anything better? Should I have paid the bribe, to achieve the greater-good? By not doing so, had I let down the community I had pledged to help?

I started planning this project four years ago. I have talked about it, blogged about it, prayed about it and fundraised for it more than I care to think about at the moment. I have invested many hundreds of hours, many hundreds of pounds and many kilojoules of hope in an enterprise which has come to absolutely nothing.

That’s the selfish angle on it, but the truth is, it’s not just me that has been working hard. Our partners in SIM, ASAREN and HCJB have been fully involved at every stage in the process.

There are some difficult decisions to be made now, regarding how and when to dismantle the project. My colleagues are advising me not to do anything rash just yet. But most of me would very much like to do something rash. The rasher the better, in fact. If you have any suggestions for Rash Things I Could Do To Vent Frustration, please add them in the comments section below.

Posted by sahelsteve at April 23, 2007 04:21 PM