PRESS RELEASE - Washington, D.C., March 17, 2008 - The Voice of America (VOA) has expanded Swahili broadcasts to Kenya to include an additional half-hour each day.
"Providing reliable news and information to the people of Kenya is critical, particularly during this time," said VOA Africa Division Chief Gwen Dillard. This shows once again how VOA can provide a valuable service to audiences," she added.
The expanded radio coverage will offer news from a network of stringers in the region, interviews with a range of newsmakers including ruling and opposition party representatives, political analysts, economists, local residents, as well as U.S. officials, UN, EU and AU mediators and other African leaders.
The service will also begin a new series called In Focus taking an in-depth look at issues such as land distribution, the constitution, ethnic tensions, national reconciliation and the future of democracy in Kenya.The new program will be broadcast at 0930-1000 UTC, 12:30 p.m. local time Monday-Friday, and at 1700-1730 UTC, 8:00 p.m. on weekends. Swahili broadcasts will now run for a total of two hours each weekday and one hour on Saturdays and Sundays. Visit www.VOANews.com/swahili for more information on VOA Swahili language programming.
(Source: VOA via Alokesh Gupta, India)