Indigenous Language Media, Language Politics and Democracy in Africa

Language plays a crucial role in the media as a key public domain, to the extent that the languages people use in the media determine their chances of getting heard. However, there are numerous forces determining which languages are used in the public domain and the hierarchy of their deployment. This point has been debated extensively in the literature of language ideology. In her seminal work in this area, Woolard (1992, pp. 235–236), for instance, suggests that to the extent that language is the vehicle of large proportions of media content, it is linked to expression and to power. According to Woolard, “language stands in dialectical relation with, and thus significantly influences, social, discursive and linguistic practices”. There also exists a dialectical relationship between language attitudes and the roles different languages are assigned in the public domain. Because of the important role of language, this relationship constitutes an important issue for discussion in the context of the media’s role in inclusion and exclusion and in the overall democratisation project in Africa. Political economy scholars have for over two decades made the same point about the relationship/s between language, diversity, expression and democracy (see, for instance Golding and Murdock 1991; Goldsmith Media Group 2000; Gurevitch 2000; McChesney 2000; Bagdikian 2014).

The origin of the African language press is usually associated with Christian missionaries. They chose to establish a press in the local language for their evangelical activities (Akinfeleye, 1985; Tsumba, 2002; Salawu, 2003, 2007). The missionaries knew that the only way they could, effectively, diffuse the beliefs and tenets of their religions among the natives was to communicate with them in the indigenous languages. For instance, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) did this in the Yoruba language; the Dutch Reformed Church Mission (DRCM), later known as the Church of Christ among the Tiv or the Nongo U Kristu Ken Sudan Hen Tiv (NKST), in the Tiv and Chiyanja languages; the United Mission for Central Africa (UMCA) in Chiyanja; the Catholic Church in isi Zulu, Chichewa and Ewondo; the Overtoun Institute of the Free Church of Scotland in Chiyanja; the Wesleyans and Presbyterians in isi Xhosa; the Church of Scotland Mission in Efik; the former Qua Iboe Mission, now the United Evangelical Mission, in Igala, etc.

Since the liberation of Uganda’s broadcast media sector two decades ago, the sector has seen considerable growth. The number of channels has multiplied and the programming menu has taken on a more global and commercial(ized) character as local media houses have had to compete for audiences with regional and global media. At the same time, there has been significant growth in the volume of programming in the indigenous languages across the broadcast spectrum as most media owners acknowledge the need to be relevant to local audiences. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and particularly the mobile phone, have flourished, notwithstanding persistent urban-rural disparities in access. In this context, it is pertinent to evaluate the performance of the electronic media in enhancing freedom of expression.

When writing about language matters, Gilmartin (2004) states that language was crucial in the establishment and maintenance of both colonial rule, and the new postcolonial identities. In such colonial systems, the colonisers used language, among other things, as a colonising and civilising tool, where the colonised (deemed civilised) assimilated the language of the coloniser, most often at the expense of their indigenous languages. Even today, that is, centuries after colonialism ended in Africa, we still see colonial languages such as English and French remaining dominant in many African countries. Examples are the Malawian government that adopted English as an official language immediately after independence in 1964 (Moyo 2001); the Cameroon, where the two official languages are the foreign English and French (Ngefac 2010); Tanzania, where English and Kiswahili are languages of education (Swilla 2009), and many others.

XK FM, a unique community radio station for the !Xû and Khwe communities of Platfontein, in Kimberley was established in August 2000 as a protégé of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Its broadcasting licence, issued by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and renewable after every five years states that !Xûntali, Khwedam¹ and Afrikaans are the languages of broadcasting (Mhlanga 2010a, 2010b). The first two languages belong to the 12th group of languages that are identified by the Pan-South African Language Board (PANSLAB) as the languages of the San people. However, for the San people only one radio station was established – XK FM, a community radio station for the !Xû and Khwe. When compared to all the other public radio stations that are owned and controlled by the SABC this radio station is strikingly unique. And in terms of its remit it is limited to serving the !Xû and Khwe communities; thus implying that this radio station remains fully answerable to a public broadcaster, SABC, while doubling as a community radio station (Mhlanga 2009, 2010a, 2010b). The Group Executive News and Current Affairs, Dr Snuki Zikalala emphasised its uniqueness by stressing that ‘when studying public radio stations in South Africa it is advisable to grant considerable attention to XK FM in order to understand factors that led to its formation’. He added that its uniqueness is not only in its remit and general mandate but is also embedded in the histories of the two communities.²

The internet and indeed the World Wide Web are fast becoming the media with the highest penetration in Nigeria. They are essentially information technology (IT) resources. Urua (2006) states that the internet is a flexible, computer-based, global information system with many interconnected computer networks, enabling thousands of computers to share information. With the internet, it is now possible for people, businesses and governments throughout the world to communicate quickly and inexpensively. It has a wide range of uses including research, teaching, taxation (in form of filling in tax returns online) and shopping.

This chapter discusses indigenous radio broadcasting in Ghana with the focus on the role played by indigenous languages in empowering various social groups in the society within the democratic arrangement of the country. This contribution is an attempt to awaken research interest in various aspects of indigenous broadcasting in Ghana and other emerging democracies with similar socio-political and media developments. A literature search shows few studies that have examined the role or place of indigenous languages in the media and political democratisation process in emerging democracies like Ghana or Africa as a whole. While most studies are either focused on the positive developments that have characterised emerging democracies following the embrace of deregulation, the few available studies on the use of local language in the media are mainly from East European and Asian perspectives (Blankson, 2005). The deregulation of the broadcasting sphere in Ghana during the late 1990s and the various policies that were formulated later to make broadcasting beneficial not only to media organisations but also to the various sections of society make an evaluation of some aspects of the enterprise worthwhile.

Most nations of the world consider the national census exercise important because, apart from being one of the indices of modern society, a population census provides comprehensive demographic information on which to base development planning. Unfortunately, previous population censuses in Nigeria have always ended in controversy. Even the much applauded 1991 census, adjudged to have been the best so far in the country, led to 107 court cases throughout the federation.

Language is never simply a neutral instrument to convey meaning, but rather a culturally subjective system reflecting peoples’ worldview. The importance of speaking to a people in their own language cannot therefore be over-stressed, because language as a system of communicative symbol only receives meaning from its culture and society (Kinge’I 1999, 1). Twentieth-century Africa has produced diverse forms of Christian expression, the core of which is the emphasis on the Africanness of Christianity. Africans have rightly observed that their traditional languages, thought patterns, and worldviews can be adapted to make Christianity relevant to the African situation. How did this come about? Why did Africans turn to indigenous language in the expression of their Christian conviction? What were the main developments in this process?

Malawi, a British protectorate from 1891, achieved independence in 1964. Then, under Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Malawi quickly became a one-party state, which was highly intolerant of dissent, both written and oral (Short, 1974; Lwanda, 1993 and 2009; Ross, 2009). It had a ‘feudal’ political and economic climate, with an economy exploiting low wages (LESOMA, 1981, pp. 82–85; Pryor, 1990; Mhone, 1992, pp. 1–33), in which expression of socio-economic dissatisfaction was contained by political repression (Africa Watch, 1990).