The Contribution of Radio Journalism to the Return Home of the LRA Fighters: The Case of “Dwog Cen Paco”, (Come Back Home) Radio Programme On 102 Mega FM in Gulu, Northern Uganda.

Abstract

Radio in Rwanda has been accused of sparking the 1994 genocide estimated to have killed over 800,000 Rwandese (Tutsi only), in about 100 days. This incidence blurred the hope of whether media in Africa could play positive roles. When radio assumed a reverse role in nearby regions, it was used in Burundi to counteract hate speech, in Kenya to tone down post-election violence, and in the Uganda’s LRA conflict resolution. This study investigates the contribution of Gulu - northern Uganda’s Mega FM’s, “Dwog Cen Paco”, (Come Back Home) radio programme, which grounded its messaging in the theory of Peace Journalism, to resolve the northern Uganda LRA fighter’s conflict, that had lasted over (20) twenty years. The study asked (3) three questions that includes, the strategies used to persuade the LRA fighters into returning home, the external factors that contributed to the LRA return, and the best practices used on the LRA persuasion radio programme. Using a qualitative research approach, Key Informant Interviews, In-depth Interviews and Focus Group Discussions were used to garner data through Purposive and Snowball sampling of five (5) categories of respondents that included the principal subjects of the research, who were seven (7) ex-LRA fighters, a radio journalist and two (2) religious leaders (Anglican and Roman Catholic). Other subjects included five (5) Caritas NGO staff, and sixteen (16) Gulu residents. The study emerges with pioneering recommendations to peaceful conflict resolution, and offers a viable conflict resolution foundation to scholars conducting research guided by the theory of Peace Journalism. Keywords: Media; conflict resolution; the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA); Northern Uganda Peace Journalism; Radio.