Seven of nine community radio journalists

Seven of the FORCOM radio journalists who fled into the bush when their village, Muidumbe, was attacked are now safe, director of the Community Radio Forum (FORCOM) Ferosa Zacarias has announced. “Of the nine journalists who were in the woods, seven are now supposedly safe. I say supposedly, because there is no true security where there is hunger and no roof over one’s head,” Zacarias reports. “Some are in Nampula, others in Montepuez or in the capital of Cabo Delgado, Pemba, and in Mueda. But they are very weakened physically and psychologically.” The journalists fled into the bush when terrorists raided Muidumbe on October 31, destroying the São Francisco de Assis community radio station.

Read more: Mozambique attacks: Community Radio journalists have been hiding in the woods for 10 days, with  families – NGO

There followed about 12 days of distress, in which the journalists reported difficulties surviving in the woods while grieving relatives beheaded by the terrorists.

FORCOM director Ferosa Zacarias

Where are the other two?

But the wait is not over, Zacarias noting that “two other [journalists] are unreachable, and we do not know what condition they are in”.

“They cannot be located, we have no information. We do not know if they are alive, and are very concerned. They are both married and have fled with their families,” Zacarias says.It is not the first time that São Francisco de Assis Community Radio, which is supported by the Pemba diocese of the Catholic church, has been closed down. In April this year, terrorist attacks forced the team to stop broadcasting and seek temporary refuge in a safer parts of Cabo Delgado province.

In view of the insurgents’ recurring attacks, will the station close indefinitely?

Radio coordinator Father Edegard Silva Junior says that, “the reopening of the mission will depend on the guidance of the bishop. For security reasons, the reopening of the radio will depend on circumstances and on the radio president, Bishop Luiz Fernando Lisboa”.Two other fundamental factors will have to be taken into account: the equipment, “which was probably stolen or destroyed”, and the electricity supply.“We have been without power for many months. And no one is going to put the team’s life at risk or open the radio until appropriate conditions exist,” the priest says.The violence in the north of the country has prompted FORCOM to observe that the state is responsible for guaranteeing the safety of its citizens, warning that the closing-down of community radio stations in conflict regions jeopardises the population’s right to information guaranteed by the Constitution.