Traditional leaders in Gam, a settlement in the Tsumkwe Constituency, are calling on the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) to extend its radio and television coverage to rural communities.

This call was made during the NBC Director-General's external stakeholder engagement with the Ovaherero Traditional Authority in Gam.

The chief of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority in Gam, Hans Kandjii, wants NBC to expand and introduce TYS FM alongside Omurari FM in the area.

"If there is a Setswana radio, we might understand it well because we are fluent in Setswana, so all the languages should be broadcast. The other thing is the radio station in Tsumkwe. That station is mostly in Tsumkwe, and the manager doesn't know the way of life of the Ovaherero people. We like interacting, like visiting households or finding out where the news is, so we are asking for the office in Tsumkwe to extend its services at times and visit the whole constituency."

Another traditional leader under the Ovaherero Traditional Community, Ngueva Kahaka, says extending radio coverage to remote settlements would ensure that more people have access to information. 

"It ends, but also, you guys, you saw for yourself where it starts and where it ends. We must extend it maybe until Otjihere. Some people are elderly; they want to keep track of the pension pay dates, and they listen through that transmitter. All things come through the radio."

NBC's Head of Transmitters, Joseph Kashamako, says the concerns raised by the traditional leaders are valuable and will help the corporation identify gaps and plan its signal expansion strategies.

"We take this information; it is very valuable to us so that when we go back, we can then go and strategise and see. I hear that on this specific side it's most probably just 30 kilometres; we need to find out why it is only 30 kilometres. We are having something of 40 or 60 kilometres, so we will gather this information, take it back, and go resimulate and see where the challenges can be."

NBC Director-General Menesia Muinjo says the corporation invests significantly in news and programming, but its reach remains limited in some rural areas. 

"The radius is still limited where the reception of NBC, whether it's Omurari or even !aH radio now, no more !aH radio either, and that's what we started here to say that this tower, which we think is at a minimum height, is the question now. To say no, the people can really get us, and what we do is we invest in news and programmes just to come and broadcast here, and also what is important is that there are key decisions being taken daily, whether in the National Assembly or any other big office that affects our people in rural areas in this part of Namibia."

Muinjo says NBC has to relook at what is on its towers and what the temporary measures that can be taken are to extend the signal.