Prime
‘We try to reach the secular world with love’
Ben Mwine
Ben Mwine, the managing director/breakfast show presenter at Power FM, talked to Winnie Apimo about their new magazine - Love Letter, their website, www.powerfm.co.ug and the big dreams that they have for the gospel station.
What was the suspense and secrecy of the launch all about?
It was a little bit of creativity. We wanted to give people something good and classy.
Why did you use the word revolution for your launch?
Revolution is the word that is attributed to Watoto Church, but the whole idea behind the word is to do things that will help us change our world, especially our nation, through love. Most governments take over the nation through a revolution but we intend to take over the nation through love, by actions.
Why have you decided to launch it now?
Actually, we are a bit late in our launch because we wanted to do it when students were still home for holidays and campusers at university since they are our focus.
What is your theme and what audience are you targeting?
Love is our theme, that is why we call it a revolution of love; love for God, love for our neighbour and love for our country. Our target audience is mainly the youth. We believe that two thirds of the Ugandan population is below the age of 30 and they have a chance of making our nation better since they are the future generation.
Watoto Church is known for catering for only the youth; don’t you think older people need to be involved in what you are doing?
We cater for them too. But what we do goes beyond the church since we respond to all Christians. We are in partnership with all Christian churches around and these have old people that help us, but our core target is the 15-35-year-olds.
What do you expect to achieve in the revolution launch of both the magazine and the website?
We believe the magazine will become a voice for people to tell their stories, just like it did Barbara Kemigisha, a 24-year-old born again single mother living with HIV/Aids. Others may be inspired from this story to make their life better. As for the website, we are planning to give our listeners a platform to interact with one another, listen to
Power FM online and keep up to date with upcoming events.
What is Phat Fest about?
It is the biggest gospel music festival. Power FM is a Christian station that is trying to bring both Christians and non Christians together and Isaac Blackman is the right vessel for achieving that purpose.
Aren’t you being secular?
Absolutely not! We try to reach the secular world with love and we make things lively so that they can be attracted to what we do, but we stay true to our principle, which is to make Jesus the centre of every think we do.
What vision do you have for Power FM?
We want Power FM to effect change and inspire people and to be among the top three stations in our country, attract a large audience and show them what a great product we have. We also want to extend broadcasting to Gulu and in five years’ time, all major towns will be able to listen to Power FM; in years to come, we will think about a TV setup.
What advice would you give to other Christian stations?
To the media overall, we have a duty to our country, audience and our profession, therefore money shouldn’t be our primary motive. To the Christian stations, we should know that whatever we air out has an impact on someone and that we will be held responsible for whatever we air.
