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While all private radio and television stations go dark, Clarisse Irakoze will not be silenced
A few days before Clarisse Irakoze flew to London for a week-long Thomson Reuters Foundation workshop on elections reporting, the Burundi government shut down her employer, Radio Publique Africaine (RPA). A week later, while waiting to fly back into the country, she learned that the closest she would get would likely be Rwanda – it wasn’t safe anymore at home.
Incensed by the events which have taken place in her country, such as the alleged government backed militia-led violence against protestors and the escalation in restrictions on private media, Irakoze is determined to report what she sees and shares her story.
“I am sensitive to injustice,” she says. “Many people in my country abuse power to violate people’s rights. I grew up during the civil war and the situation hasn’t changed. I can’t watch it and do nothing when I know I can somehow help.”
“RPA was created to be the voice of the voiceless, and that is what I want to be – no matter what the risks are.”
"On RPA, we had many programs for educating people, like showing them why they should encourage their kids to go to school, how to avoid diseases, good governance, etc. We talk about people’s rights so that no one can abuse another, whether he [President Nkurunziza] is in power or not. And if the government systems fail in any case, this has to be said.”
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