Adventist World Radio Tanzania

Adventist World Radio entered Tanzania in 1997 when the political climate became favorable for private radio stations. The opportunity had been long awaited and Lameck Mwamukonda, then president of Tanzania Union Mission, spear-headed the establishment of an Adventist World Radio station in the country.¹

Adventist World Radio began running the broadcasts in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1984. The station in Morogoro, Tanzania, started as a branch of the Kenyan station. With the support of Adventist World Radio in Nairobi, the equipment needed for transmission was brought to Morogoro and installed by Cliver Mbwana.² Mbwana became the temporary producer, while Andrew Haule served as a technician. Under the instructions of Adventist World Radio International, the programs were recorded in Morogoro, then sent to South Africa for airing.³ Soon after, Michael Kuyenga joined the station as a producer. Just two years later, the Tanzania Union Mission executive committee took an action to combine Voice of Prophecy and AWR to establish Tanzania Adventist Media Channels (TAMC) in 1999.⁴

AWR Tanzania radio programs are broadcast in Kisswahili language. The mission of AWR in Tanzania, as elsewhere, is to broadcast the Advent hope in Christ through the most effective media to the people of the world in their own languages.⁵ The station runs nine weekly programs in areas of family life, health, development, parenting, evangelism, current affairs, and topics that address current issues. In 2003, AWR in Tanzania widened its scope by adding programs in Maasai produced by Loitopwak Lebabu. The aim of establishing AWR Maasai programming was to reach the seminomadic Maasai tribes. AWR Maasai has a total of nine programs, four of which are spiritual and five address community education.

AWR Tanzania can be heard through shortwave radio or online through its website, https://awr.org/, in both Kiswahili and Maasai. Some programs are also broadcast on Morning Star FM, heard in Tanzania beginning at 9:15 East African time as of 2020.

AWR Impact

In Tanzania each year, more than fifty people have been reported to have given their lives to Jesus as their Lord and Savior through baptism as a result of various programs that are presented.⁶

Studio Managers

Michael Kuyenga (1997-2003), Lusekelo Mwakalindile (2003-2007), Richard Khaniki (2008-2013), Lusekelo Mwakalindile (2014-2015), Andrew Haule (2015-).

Sources

“About.” AWR360°. 2020. Accessed April 4, 2020. https://awr.org/.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook directory, “Tanzania Adventist Media Centre,” http://www.adventistdirectory.org/ViewEntity.aspx?EntityID=52170.

TAMC Facebook Profile. https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Religious-Organization/Tanzania-Adventist-Media-Channels-1949685888609930/.

Notes

1. TAMC Facebook Profile, December 2018, https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Religious-Organization/Tanzania-Adventist-Media-Channels-1949685888609930/. (Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook directory, “Tanzania Adventist Media Centre,” http://www.adventistdirectory.org/ViewEntity.aspx?EntityID=52170.↩

2. Cliver Mbwana, interview by the author, Ufunuo Publishing House, March 28, 2019.↩

3. Andrew Haule, interview by the author, AWR Studios, Morogoro, Tanzania, April 1, 2019.↩

4. TAMC Facebook Profile, December 2018.↩

5. “About,” AWR360°, 2020, accessed April 4, 2020, https://awr.org/.↩

6. Lemereka Kibasisi, telephone interview with the author, March 15, 2019.↩