Nyambura and others think harmful stereotypes have been around so long that many people in Tana River now believe them. She traces this back to the early days of Kenya’s independence, when President Jomo Kenyatta prioritised developing regions with rich agriculture, leaving drier areas like Tana River neglected. “This neglect,” Nyambura explains, “allowed damaging labels to stick—terms even used by aid groups and the media.” Over time, phrases like “unproductive and unskilled,” “conflict-prone,” “backward and isolated,” and “dependent on aid” have unfairly defined the region. Nyambura warns, “These narratives create a victim mentality, making people feel powerless to change their circumstances or challenge those in power.” 

Even journalists at Vox Radio sometimes reinforce these ideas. “It’s too easy to see Tanarians as victims instead of resilient people overcoming challenges,” says Nyambura. That’s why Vox Radio focuses on “solutions journalism,” which highlights how communities are solving their problems instead of only reporting the issues. “We need to listen to people, let them tell their stories, and showcase their strengths.”

Nyambura shared a story about Yoash, a Vox journalist whose farming show is helping change perceptions. One destructive narrative he challenges is the idea that pastoralists (from the Orma community) and farmers (from the Pokomo community) are enemies competing for resources. Yoash’s programs bring members of both groups together to discuss shared challenges and find solutions. He also highlights success stories, like a pastoralist couple (pictured above) who had set up a business of turning the parts of the animals that are usually discarded, like horns, bones and hoofs, into stunning ornaments and jewellery. After appearing on his show, they received many calls from listeners eager to learn more or buy their creations.

When Amplifying Voices initially set up Vox Radio in 2017 (formerly Amani FM), in partnership with the Amani Centre, its purpose was to build peace and disrupt the narrative of conflict that had plagued the region for many decades. With peace now taking root in Tana River County, the airwaves of Vox Radio are alive with a renewed sense of purpose and a new mission: to inspire Tana River’s communities to thrive – with a new narrative. One where farmers share sustainable practices, young entrepreneurs showcase their ideas, and elders envision a brighter future. Vox Radio has become more than a platform—it’s a symbol of hope, encouraging people to dream beyond peace and work toward lasting prosperity.

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“After four years of devastating drought and food insecurity, no-one was ready for this,” says Fatma. “Even the authorities were poorly prepared and only days before the flooding started, the President said that he anticipated that the rainy season would be short and not have much impact on farmers,” she added. Thankfully before the rains arrived, Vox Radio had already begun preparing communities, advising them what to do in the event of flooding.

Partnering with the county government and service providers such as the Kenya Red Cross, Vox team members have been reaching out to flood-affected communities, giving them a voice. “As we meet community members, we listen to their concerns and needs and we also engage with specialists who can answer their questions,” says Fatma.  “For example we have discovered that a lot of people have been traumatised by the floods, and so we have been helping people understand how to identify trauma and giving them ways to cope.”

Fatma Mzee accompanies the District County Commissioner and other officials during a food distribution to displaced communities.

Vox Radio Chairman, John Otunga who has also been supporting the team in their emergency response described how the Vox team responded when the scale of the disaster became apparent: “We realised the importance of reliable information and immediately took action. We rallied community leaders from the government, religious groups, and the broader network of development workers to share messages of hope, give direction, and reassure the affected communities. We also restructured our programming to address community concerns and facilitated community discussions. We placed a lot of emphasis on engagement with community leaders and health experts in our radio programmes, which has fostered a sense of connection and support. These platforms of dialogue have contributed to the unity and kindness we are witnessing in Tana River, even as people grapple with the aftermath of the floods. Leaders are showing more accountability, and slowly, hope is finding its way back into the hearts of our people.”

The authorities have also acknowledged the valuable role Vox Radio is playing, even in supporting their rescue efforts.  One family whose home had been submerged under water called the radio station to tell them of their situation, which alerted the authorities who were able to rescue them.

According to Fatma, the floods came at a terrible time for both pastoralists and crop farmers. “Most farmers had already planted their seeds, but these have been washed away,” she said.  “The pastoralists likewise had brought their livestock from the hinterlands to graze by the river, so many animals were swept away, and those remaining are now suffering from diseases caused by the Tstese Fly.”

Going forward John believes that as the flood waters start to recede, the radio station will have a critical role to play as the communities will face many challenges.  On top of the existing challenge of food insecurity, which has been exacerbated by the floods, there is now a threat of a cholera outbreak and mosquito-born diseases like Malaria.  There is also a risk to communities from wild animals, whose habitats have been washed away, which often brings them into direct contact with people.

While thousands of people are now living in temporary camps, Fatma is thankful that many people are listening to Vox Radio.   “We have found that people in these IDP camps are very vulnerable, especially young people, and so we are running special mentorship programmes for boys and girls,” she said.  “Vox teams have been moving from camp-to-camp having conversations with young people about the risks that they face and about how they can keep safe.”

Meanwhile John says that Vox Radio’s commitment to serving the public during this crisis underscores the vital role that local media plays in times of disaster. “By leveraging its influence and reach, which is now almost county-wide, Vox Radio has not only disseminated critical information, but also fostered a sense of community resilience and unity, proving that even in the darkest times, the power of community-centred media can bring people together and help them rebuild.”

Photo credits: Kevin Odit (Nation Media Group) and Kulah Nzomo (Vox Radio)

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“Love your enemies! Do good to them.” ~ Jesus

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” ~Nelson Mandela

I have been deeply troubled to see the terrible loss of life that has happened in Israel and Gaza in recent days, as violence provokes more violence, with no peaceful end in sight to what seems the world’s most intractable conflict.

All too often these days it seems our media are awash with news of an assault by this or that group against another, often driven by some flawed ideology, misguided zealotry, or ultranationalism.

Fatma Mzee is the Operations Director of the Amani Centre in Tana River

Media, especially social media, often pour fuel on the raging fire and before too long you have a conflagration. It concerns me greatly!

However I am also greatly heartened when so often, acts of savagery and brutality result in a surge of love and kindness, as people rise to help the victims of violence or vendettas and people open their homes to refugees and outcasts. As usual when systems and processes fail us, we tap into our own resources, and friendships. It’s what strong communities do. Growing up in eastern Kenya, I have seen this happen, in fact it is one of the reasons I became a journalist. I believed media and communication could help communities, especially divided ones, connect better. And it can!  I have experienced it first hand in Tana River, in the eastern part of Kenya, where I live.

I was working for Nation Media group after the 2012 massacres in Tana River  and it was really bad, there was such hatred especially between the Orma, pastoralist community and Pokomo, land farming community.  The place was rife with rumours and misinformation and the situation was tense, as one act of violence provoked reprisals which left many dead and thousands displaced. But rather than dwelling on the past, let me fast forward to today because Tana River is a very different place.  Sure there are still many problems, but the divisions that were common then, are hard to find now. Former enemies have now become friends, there is greater understanding and dialogue and people even intermarry across ethnic groups. How did it happen?  It would be naive to say there was one reason, but I have no doubt that one of the main influences has been Vox Radio, formerly Amani (which means peace) FM.   Set up as a collaborative venture between the Amani Centre, Sentinel Project and Amplifying Voices (formerly HCR) to promote peace, Vox serves as a beacon of hope and a platform for dialogue, amplifying the voices of local communities, allowing them to express themselves and engage in constructive conversations.

Orma pastoralists, Tana River County (Photo credit: Cafod)

Take the case of Yusuf for example. He was a pastoralist and hated the tribe that farmed the land. But through our farming programme ‘Sauti ya Mkulima’ (the Voice of the Farmer), which brought pastoralists and land farmers together to discuss their shared challenges, they discovered they actually had a lot of common ground, not least of all that they were all in fact farmers. Over time, Yusuf, encouraged by his new crop-growing friends, decided that he would try his hand at growing watermelons along the banks of the Tana River.  He was so successful that he is now investing in an agri business, while still rearing cattle. Together pastoralists and land-farmers are gradually realising that to overcome the enormous challenges Tana River faces, such as the effects of the climate emergency, they need to find solutions together. It will take time, and patience!

A key to Vox Radio’s success is that we have built a lot of trust.  Trust takes a long time to build but just one second to destroy, so we cannot be complacent. But I do believe we are seen as an impartial champion of well-being for all the communities of Tana River. We have done this in several ways:

• By listening – to understand the hopes, aspirations and concerns that people have and providing a space for them to be heard
• By involving all communities – literally moving from one village to another and inviting villages to meet with each other.  We have even taken politicians with us, so they see first hand what people are facing and listen to their concerns
• By fact checking and challenging rumours and misinformation head on
• Through excellent radio programmes that engage the communities – talk shows, ‘phone-ins, dramas and programmes that hold the political classes to account
• By helping the communities to find common ground, rather than focus on their differences.
• Through sport and other community events – people who have fun together, can reason together.
• By using all media-platforms that support the radio, including social media, posters, banners and campaigns.

I believe that if we want to see sustainable development come to Tana River, it must go hand-in-hand with peace-building. We therefore need development solutions that prevent conflict and extremism and promote peace and security.  For that we need to keep the communities at the centre of all that we do and involve them at every stage. We need to promote peaceful narratives and behaviour that strengthens health and mental well-being. And we need to strengthen gender equality so girls have the same opportunities as boys.

I’m convinced that in today’s interconnected world, even in more marginalised regions like Tana River, radio and the internet are emerging as powerful tools for building peace, fostering understanding and promoting unity among diverse communities. I believe that peace is possible! I pray the Israelis and Palestinians will discover this too.

****

Fatma Mzee is Director of the Amani Centre in Tana River and is a guest speaker at this year’s Build Peace Conference in Nairobi

Picture credit: Re-imagining New Communities 

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Meanwhile the Minjilla station, which is solar-powered has given the team a new lease of life and has helped them become more environmentally and financially sustainable. As Fatma says: “In the old station we were on and off air, depending on if we had sufficient funds to pay the electricity bill, but now thanks to the solar power we never have to worry.”

An engineer installs the Solar Panels to provide power to Vox Radio

Alongside the radio station, plans are also progressing with the development of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) hub which will be co-located at the Vox Radio site.  The Vox team has just launched an exciting new programme in partnership with the Paradigm Initiative, known as L.I.F.E, an acronym that stands for Life Skills, ICTs, Financial Readiness, and Entrepreneurship. This programme offers free ICT skills to young people and women in Tana River County to give them digital literacy skills. Twenty excited students took their place yesterday for the first 10-week course, which was such an event that it even made the evening national news bulletin. John believes this and other ICT initiatives will be crucial to reducing poverty in Tana River, while improving community access to health and education services as well as creating new sources of income and employment.  “It will bridge the digital divide that has for years left the marginalised communities in Tana River and especially women and girls excluded from present-day opportunities,” he says.

Participants and Vox Radio team members at the inaugural ‘LIFE’, digital literacy skills workshop (photo: courtesy Vox Radio)

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It’s not every day you get to hang out with local heroes, but that was the joy my colleague Kevin from FEBC Australia and I had recently when we visited the Vox Radio team in eastern Kenya’s Tana Delta. After the end of one of the most peaceful elections ever in Kenya, Vox Radio was awarded a certificate of recognition as “heroes” for the amazing role they played in spreading peace in Tana River County. And their recognition is well-deserved, as since 2017, this young team has been working tirelessly to engage with every community in the region, promoting dialogue, listening to fears, challenging hate speech and misinformation. Everywhere we went, from government offices to small villages, we were told that Vox Radio had played a significant role, not just in bringing harmony between rival groups, but in promoting health and development and championing those whose voices were rarely heard.

“Vox Radio has been instrumental in bringing peace to Tana Delta.”

Hon Ali Wario, MP tells Jon about the value of Vox Radio

Even the local MP for the region is impressed.  In a meeting at his parliamentary office in Nairobi, Honourable Ali Wario, told me that Vox Radio had been instrumental in bringing peace to the region.  Recalling the massacre in Tana River ten years ago, Hon Wario said the county was in such a different place now, and that Vox Radio had played a big part in changing the atmosphere by promoting understanding between the different communities.  He added that the station had also been a big help during the pandemic with its educational and health programmes.

During our visit we met different communities who told us how Vox Radio spoke with their voice.  We also heard however, how difficult life had become. Drought has ravaged livestock, crops and livelihoods. With dramatic increases in costs due to the war in Ukraine, many said they didn’t know how they would manage going forward. In one village a school had sent all their children home saying they could not attend as they weren’t able to pay school fees, which was devastating news to the families, adding to Tana River’s education crisis.  The county already lags far behind the rest of Kenya, having among the lowest transition rates between primary and secondary schools and the lowest literacy level nationally.

This was brought home to us during our visit to a school in Tana Delta, where 13 teachers are responsible for the education of 900 students. The head teacher Mole Hashako Yako, listed a range of challenges from providing enough food and water each day for children, to education resources and classroom furniture.  And yet she believes that access to quality education is one of the most effective ways to enable communities to break the cycle of under-development and dependency.

To that end, it was a delight for us to finalise an agreement with the Amani Centre (community-based organisation) to establish a new information communication technology (ICT) hub in the rapidly expanding town of Minjilla on the LAPSSET corridor.  At the centre of this community-led initiative will be Vox Radio, which will move to Minjilla in January 2023.  Mrs Hashako Yako believes this ICT hub, integrated with the work of Vox Radio could revolutionise the learning for resource-deprived schools like hers.  During the Covid-19 pandemic, Vox Radio proved the value of radio in education through their ‘school of the air‘. With partners such as Elimu and their innovative digital learning resources, we believe this centre will revolutionise education, health and development in Tana River County for years to come.

John Green (Amani Centre Chair) with Jon and Kevin Keegan (CEO of FEBC Australia) and the signed agreement to establish the new ICT Hub

Featured photo: Fatma Mzee receives the “Heroes Award” on behalf of Vox Radio
(Picture courtesy of Vox Radio)

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In partnership with the Amani Centre and FEBC Australia, a major opportunity has arisen to establish an “ICT” hub that we believe will bring dramatic changes for the region’s population, which has often felt disadvantaged and neglected. ICT stands for information communication technology, and initiatives like the one we are planning, have been widely documented as being crucial to reducing poverty, improving access to health and education services and creating new sources of income and employment.

Chairman of the Amani Centre, John Otunga, believes this community-led initiative will be a game changer for Tana River’s communities: “The ICT hub is so significant at this time as it will bridge the digital divide that has for years left the marginalised communities in Tana River and especially women and girls excluded from present-day opportunities.”

Central to the ICT hub will be Vox Radio (formerly Amani FM) which Amplifying Voices helped set up in 2017 and which has become a trusted friend to the communities that it it serves*.  It will continue to reach these communities and many more, however it will relocate 6km away to the town of Minjilla, a town that is fast becoming a nerve centre in East Africa’s largest infrastructure project, the LAPSSET trade corridor between Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

John says that most young people in Tana River are either unemployed or underemployed despite the government’s best efforts to create online jobs, but he believes this ICT hub, the first and only centre in Tana River,  will empower young people with employable skills in the digital space.  “It will build the capacity of the young minds to become creative, and access digital learning and digital jobs to empower them economically and have sustainable skills. The centre will offer mentorship while employing a collaborative learning approach that will spur development and inspire innovation that will hatch local solutions to local problems,” he says.

Working with other like-minded groups, we believe this ICT hub will greatly expand the transformative work of the local radio team, combining the power of the FM station with resources such as a digital learning centre, vocational training and a community library – alongside the vital misinformation warning project, Una Hakika.

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Welcome to Vox Radio.  Yes it’s a new name, but it’s the same trusted friend that has been supporting communities in the Tana Delta since 2017, as “Amani FM“.  But why the change, and why now, as the country approaches hotly contested elections?  The new name coincides with a new, regional licence and frequency for the station, which gives them the authority to extend their signal across the county to reach many more communities.

Vox Radio’s Operations Director, Fatma Mzee explains, “The government required us to leave our old name “Amani” behind and although it wasn’t our choice, in a way it marks a coming of age and a new beginning.   “Amani” means peace and one of our main roles has been to advocate for peaceful co-existence among the communities.   “Vox“, means voice and it goes with the slogan “Sauti Yangu” which mean “my voice“.  We truly have become the voice of and for the peoples of Tana River,” she explained.

Members of the Vox Radio team visit a community in Tana River to listen and learn – community engagement is a crucial part of their work

John Otunga,  chairman of the Amani Centre which hosts the station believes this is a time of great opportunity to reach more communities across Tana River County as the station builds on the success of the past four years of bringing peace to the region.  “Our mission was successfully accomplished as over the years we’ve seen a significant drop in conflict, tension and mistrust among community members and the station’s name has resonated well with what communities consider to be very important – peace.  We will still be the same trusted voice, providing great entertainment and creative content, but now we’ll be reaching many more communities to inspire ever greater change for good and enabling all community voices to be heard.”

In the coming months John said the Amani Centre and Vox Radio will be relocating to its own land in nearby Minjila, to create what they are calling a Community ICT hub (Information Communication Technology). In partnership with FEBC Australia, Amplifying Voices and local partners seeking to transform one of Kenya’s most disadvantaged counties, the ICT hub will become a space that brings together communities and technology to develop initiatives that tackle the regions greatest threats and challenges to health and wellbeing.

“Vox Radio has an important role to play in the run up to and week’s following the elections on 9th August,” says John, “then from October we will begin in earnest to implement the new ICT hub initiative.  Watch this space!”

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This year at Amani FM in Kenya’s Tana River district, we celebrated Mother’s Day in style – a Woman’s Football Festival. But a festival with a focus, to promote peace.

As our nation heads towards a potentially tense and polarising election in August, we believe that women will play a vital role as conveyors and ambassadors of peace.  So, with the support of our friends at  Amplifying Voices, Amani FM hosted the first-ever women’s football festival, bringing together ladies from across the district and from different communities, to not only show off their dribbling skills but in the words of Zainab Salbi, “to forge lines of alliance and collaboration across conflict divides.” 

Over the years this region has endured intercommunity clashes, commonly during the electioneering period, often driven by  misinformation and rumours as well and incitement from politicians.

The tournament drew over 500 people, both men and women, young and old, from different communities within Tana Delta, and gave women a chance to address the communities on the importance of calm campaigning and a peaceful election, which is set for August 9th.

Mama Caroline Kode, the secretary for Maendeleo ya wanawake (Development by Women) and a member of the Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics urged women to be on the frontline in countering any acts that may disrupt peace.  She called on women to talk to their families, reminding them that women, people living with disability and children bore the brunt of violent conflict.

‘’Women have great influence in decision-making and so we must talk to our families, young people and partners about the importance of peace, because we have always been victims of violence.’’  She also called on young people to beware of  being manipulated by politicians  in the run up to the elections.

Rejal Girls FC – the winning team in the first ever Women’s Football Festival in Tana River County

But it wasn’t all politics… the event, which was covered live on Amani FM, was hugely popular with the crowd as four teams,  Garsen Mums, Real Girls, Warembo wa Tana and Dzimize Stars battled it out for the trophy.  In the end, after some tough competition and excellent football, which raised heavy dust over the Matabule ground, Real Girls emerged as the winners and Garsen Mums the runners up.

Mrs Kode congratulated Amani FM for organising the festival and urged them to carry on in the spirit of ensuring that the dark days of  history were never repeated.

* Fatma Mzee is the is the Director of the Amani Centre in Tana River

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But it is also very evident in Kenya, where I’ve just spent the last two weeks, working alongside the fabulous Amani FM team in eastern Kenya’s Tana River County.  Aside from training workshops, I was able to join the team as they visited different communities around Tana Delta to listen to their fears and concerns ahead of August’s high-stakes election.  The crippling drought alongside two years of pandemic have left many families struggling for survival, which is worryingly fueling an old, troublesome narrative.  I heard people talk of ‘we’ and ‘they’ and use language of enmity rather than peace, which in Kenya has often been exploited for political ends.   I heard one group accuse another of diverting their water supply for their own ends, without any basis of fact.  In another village, people resorted to a familiar old narrative of how ‘they’ were the original inhabitants of the region and how ‘others’ were outsiders who were stealing their resources, another baseless, but heart-felt stereotype.

The Amani FM team have been out and about listening to community fears and concerns about this August’s elections

Such narratives have often been the drivers of conflict in the months leading up to, and after elections, which have been the most bloody periods in Kenya’s post-independence history, resulting in thousands of deaths and the displacement of hundreds of thousands. The advent of multi-party democracy in Kenya in 1992 led to the ethnicisation of politics, with power-brokers using tribal and ethnic grievance narratives in the absence of consistent political ideology.  Clearly there is a need to change the narrative.

During our workshop the Amani FM team looked at research that shows how changing the narrative can open the door to conflict resolution.  They explored how the stories we tell each other shape our relationship with the world and influence how groups behave.  We shared stories that had fostered positive change, but also stories that have divided communities and entrenched conflict between different groups.  The team grappled with some of the current local issues that give rise to conflict and  the underlying reasons which cause people to become entrenched around certain ‘positions.’  They then  shared experiences and ideas of  how Amani FM could be used to reinforce a culture of dialogue, mutual understanding and tolerance.

While the risks of conflict turning violent this election are without doubt very real, I am encouraged to have journeyed alongside the Amani FM team these last four years, to see how this dedicated group of young people have grown to become skilled at helping different sides come to a new understanding of their real needs.  Since 2017 they have been helping communities find new ways to share the benefits of cooperation and working together to find common ground between competing narratives, so that violence becomes a less desirable way of resolving differences.

Listen to Amani FM live

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As Kenya moves towards elections in August, tension is escalating in a high-stakes political drama.  In Tana River County, the team at Amani FM, "the Voice of Tana River," is preparing for its vital work of promoting peace.

While democratic elections usually hold promise, in Kenya the months leading up to and after elections, have been the most violent periods in the country's post-independence history, with thousands killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in election cycles since 2007. It was because of this that Amplifying Voices helped establish Amani FM in Tana River in 2017, in the hope of avoiding the bloodshed of previous years. The evidence is that the station has contributed enormously to building peace in the region since then.

But many are worried about the 2022 elections, which is why the Amani FM team is already very active in its peace-building activity.  John Green, the Chairman of Amani FM says there is evidence that some politicians are using hate speech to demonise other communities.  "In one part of the country," said John, "A local leader referred to members of another ethnic group as 'blemishes that needed to be removed'.  This dehumanises people and is the first stage of inciting people to hate others and commit acts of violence against them," he added.  "We saw this in Tana River during the 2012 election."

John Green,  building peace in Tana River since 2012 

Although ethnicity has been one of the main factors that influences how people vote in Kenya, there are signs that the political narrative is shifting from 'inter-ethnic' to 'inter-class' competition. This has been driven in part by the experience of COVID and the restrictions on people’s lives that have come with the pandemic, which have highlighted inequalities among Kenya’s citizens.

 

Kenya's deputy President William Ruto has also fuelled this narrative by framing this election as a contest between the privileged classes and the underclasses.  As one of the front-runner candidates for President, Mr Rutto wants to bring an end to what he calls the "dynasty" families, that have dominated Kenya since independence in the 1960's and what he terms, "hustlers", people, especially youth, who struggle to make ends meet in an economy that is no longer working for them.

In the meantime the government has issued a stern warning to politicians in Tana River County that they will deal mercilessly with anyone instigating ethnic hatred or inciting people to violence during the election campaigns.

John, who has been involved in combatting hate speech in the region since 2012, believes that many national and local leaders have learned very little from the past and fall into the same old habits of finding scapegoats for past failures and others to blame for their mistakes.  "It is for that reason that Amani FM has played such an important role in helping educate the electorate on the real issues, without fear or favour, and helping them cut through rumours and misinformation, while holding leaders to account," John says.

In the run up to the elections, the Amplifying Voices team will help build the Amani FM team's capacity as they prepare for the elections, to make sure that timely, fair and accurate information is being broadcast and that the different communities are having their voices heard.

The Amani FM team feel the burden of responsibility, especially as many commentators are saying that unless the current political rhetoric is toned down, Kenya will once again descend into violence in the run-up to the August elections.

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