Press Releases

Radio Program Incites Kenyan Government Action on AIDS

Internews Kenya KBC freelance producer Sammy Muraya.

(June 3, 2005) Radio presenter/producer team Ann Mikia and freelancer Sammy Muraya from the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation's (KBC) weekly HIV/AIDS program, A Stitch in Time, played a key role in the launch of a government HIV/AIDS program among public taxi drivers.

In August 2004, Mikia and Muraya decided to tackle a difficult topic which was not being addressed by Kenya’s government AIDS program. The radio team focused on matatu touts (public minibus taxi drivers) and schoolgirls who exchange sex with the drivers for free rides or money.

Muraya went to the streets and recorded interviews with matatu drivers, schoolgirls and also with the Matatu Drivers Association. He produced a five- minute radio segment that was followed by a live call-in session between listeners and representatives from the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) and the Drivers Association.

Muraya raised many questions about the lack of government intervention in this situation and the representative from the Matatu Drivers Association followed up by asking the National AIDS Control Council to commit to action on air.

The producers won an award for the program. (See: Journalists Trainees Win International Award for HIV/AIDS Reporting)

Then in May 2005, six months later, the government launched a matatu drivers HIV/AIDS program for which they set up a special voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) center for matatu drivers and provide HIV/AIDS counseling specifically targeted at them. The drivers are also provided with stickers with AIDS prevention messages for their taxis.

According to NACC communications person Abel Nyagwa, the radio program A Stitch in Time was a key player in improving relations with the Matatu Drivers Association. “It was not just a role, but a major role, a key role.”

Mikia and Muraya plan to produce a follow-up program in the near future. The hour - long radio program has become one of the most popular programs on the KBC, and receives far more text messages from listeners than it can air.

Both Mikia and Muraya are Internews Local Voices trainees. All the programs are produced from the Internews office in Nairobi, where the producers receive assistance with scriptwriting and research.

The Local Voices project is funded by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).