Radio has been one of the foundations at the heart of Namibian communities, acting as a conduit to share important information with the people who live in them.
Started as Katutura Community Radio, the popular radio station Base FM is one such initiative that helps to develop and empower people in the surrounding areas as well as share good music, offer exposure for various good causes and represent the identity and fibre of the community.
Well-known musician Lownan Nangombe, who goes by the name Wambüseun, is now at the helm of the radio station and is reaching for new heights to restore the soul of station and its place at the heart of the community.
The station has gone through some trying times in recent years, but with a new team in place, the focus is on restoring the radio station to commercial success.
“The station had nothing,” says Wambüseun, “due to mismanagement in the past. We are currently trying to get out of it. So many people were owed, so many people came to collect what was owed, to a point where the only thing that was left was a desk,” he says.
The current team in charge of the station has undergone victimisation, he says.
“We got attacked in newspapers, personally. We lost personal endorsements because names were named.”
But despite all this, Wambüseun’s focus is to get the community back into the equation of community radio.
The humble beginnings for many an artist from Katutura started, at one stage or the other, on the waves of the community circuit. Stations like Base FM have enabled the growth and rise of the Namibian music scene.
“If it wasn’t for community radio, there would be no Wambüseun,” says the artist on his own development, started on this nostalgic platform.
The new chapter for the station has seen Wambüseun develop from an artist to a trainer and station manager, and even at times a craftsman.
He fulfills his role as trainer by guiding new and upcoming media students who wish to develop their broadcasting skills on the airwaves. Artisan is another hat he wears, which includes taking on the role of carpenter, technician, electrician and procurer of materials.
“We’ve had to buy pallets in order to make desks, soundproofing and other furniture pieces for the new set-up,” he says, “as people had taken things from the station and those that were owed had come to collect”.
He even had to construct a makeshift transmitter to prevent being off air after the station’s transmitter had to be returned.
In his role as station manager, Wambüseun incorporates the overall management of the station in its new growth phase which has benefitted from external support in terms of equipment donations and technical support and guidance, received from companies like Multichoice Namibia.
“GOtv also supports the community station through merchandising promotional items to use as give-aways for radio engagements,” Abbelene Boer, head of marketing at Multichoice Namibia, said.
What remains central to Wambüseun’s role is the vision and path he sees for the future of the radio station, and along with it, the very heart of the community it serves.
