Abidjan, 07 July, 2020 / 9:50 pm (ACI Africa).
The leadership of the National Catholic Radio (NCR) in Ivory Coast has decided to suspend “broadcasts and all radio related activities” indefinitely, a decision that has been occasioned by financial limitations amid COVID-19 crisis, an official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ivory Coast (CECCI) has said.
“The financial situation of the Radio station requires decisions to be made about its future. Therefore, in compliance with state regulations, the Church is suspending broadcasts and all radio related activities. It is the bitter option that we have had to take,” the National Executive Secretary (NES) of CECCI’s Commission for Social Communications, Fr Augustin Obrou has been quoted as saying in the July 6 report.
Broadcasting under the tagline “Voice of the Gospel,” the 19-year-old radio station that broadcasts from the country’s capital, Abidjan, is considered “the Church’s tool for evangelization and the promotion of human development.”
To cushion the 30 personnel engaged by the station from the negative impact of the unexpected decision that affects their respective livelihoods, the leadership of the Church in the West African country says it has a social plan that entails a fundraising campaign “to sustain the survival of staff members and their families.”
“The goal is to get the financial resources to be distributed equally to each employee,” NES leadership has said and added, “If the funds collected are sufficient to run the station, the Church hopes to reopen the radio station and resume broadcasts.”
