Radio Rwanda (est. 1961)[1] is aradio station of the Rwandan Broadcasting Agency, a public broadcaster that also owns Rwandan Television, Magic FM, and other public radio stations.
Before the attack of theRwandan Patriotic Front on October 1, 1990, Radio Rwanda was the only national radio station in Rwanda, representing the views of the state and the party in power. Shortly after the start of thewar, the Patriotic Front created its own radio station,Radio Muhabura.
In March 1992, Radio Rwanda began to broadcast false information regarding the possible assassination ofHutu officials, after which manyTutsis were consequently killed in theBugesera region. When the transitional government was installed in April 1992, it demanded a programming change of the radio byPresident Habyarimana. This preserved the transitional government's role in the state radio, but stopped that of the president's party, theNational Republican Movement for Democracy and Development. Due to the growing influence of Radio Muhabura, radical Hutus created a new radio station in 1993, namedRadio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines. Radio Télévision Libre frequently made hateful statements against the Tutsis, and several of its journalists were eventually convicted of incitinggenocide.[2] Although Radio Rwanda and Radio Télévision Libre were two distinct, independent radio stations, they were broadcast at the same wavelengths at different times, which led the population to confuse them.
Radio Rwanda was reestablished between 1994 and 2000, with financing from the German government.
Today Radio Rwanda has become a national public radio with six regional stations including Magic FM (Kigali), RadioRusizi, RadioMusanze, RadioNyagatare, RadioRubavu, and RadioHuye. The current director is Divin Uwayo.[3]
In 2013, the singerCécile Kayirebwa sued several Rwandan radio stations including Radio Rwanda. She noted that her music was frequently broadcast, but she had received no royalties.[4]