Voice of the Revolution/Guinea – Funeral Observances for Kwame Nkrumah: 1972

by Dan Robinson

In 1972, the Voice of the Revolution, Guinea’s national radio carried the funeral ceremony for Francis Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president after independence. Quoting from the history: “Nkrumah was born in the Gold Coast (later Ghana) in 1909 and was educated there before going to the United States in 1935 where he attended Lincoln University and later, the University of Pennsylvania. Nkrumah spent 10 years in the U.S., and later went to England to study at the London School of Economics. At the same time, he intensified his political activities for the independence of his homeland, which he led to full nationhood on March 6,1957. He was toppled in 1966 in a coup by army officers and remained in exile in neighboring Guinea until his death in April 1972 in Bucharest, Romania, where he had gone for medical treatment.

As reported by AFP from Accra: “The body of Kwame Nkrumah was flown back here today in a special Guinean Air Force plane. The military government or declared all flags to be flown at half‐staff until the former President is buried in Nkroful, a village 190 miles southwest of here where he was born on Sept. 1, 1909.

Return of the pan‐African leader's body to Ghana marks the culmination of protracted negotiations between the governing National Redemption Council here and President Sékou Touré of Guinea. Mr. Nkrumah died on April 27 in Rumania, where he was receiving medical treatment, and his body was taken to Guinea.

At first, President Touré refused Ghanaian requests for the body and gave Mr. Nkrumah a state funeral in Conakry, the Guinean capital. The Ghanaian had spent most of the years of his exile in Conakry, following his overthrow in 1966 in Ghana's first military coup. He was given the symbolic title of Co‐President of Guinea by President Touré.

Radio Conakry, also known as The Voice of the Revolution, was frequently heard by listeners around the world, usually on its shortwave frequencies including 9,650 kHz and 7,125 kHz. Nkrumah had used the station to make speeches from Guinea to the people of Ghana in 1966.

In this recording, made in Pennsylvania in 1972, you hear part of what appears to be a funeral observance held in Conakry, mostly in French but some English. Radio Conakry remained on shortwave into the 2000s, but later was intermittent. After repairs to its transmitter, it returned to shortwave in 2016 and was still being heard as of early 2021, though at weaker levels than before, and mostly in European locations.

JOUF-AM (C-Quam Stereo): March 23, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Anthony Messina, who shares the following audio clip and notes:

Notes: Short recording of JOUF-AM heard in full C-Quam Stereo. Note the wide stereo separation that C-Quam can achieve. Shame it never fully took off in the U.S or most other places.

Date of recording: 3/23/2021

Starting time: 11:27PM EST, UTC unknown

Frequency: 1.314mHz

Receiver location: Via Japanese KiwiSDR

Receiver and antenna: Via Japanese SDR

Wolverine Radio (Shortwave Pirate) Clip: December 25, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following recording and notes:

Audio recording of Shortwave Pirate going by Wolverine Radio. This was recorded December 25, 2021 at 0056UTC on 6969khz in Hugo, MN. The broadcast consists of a few minutes of the Barenaked Ladies song Testing One Two Three being play and then a male voice announcing a frequency change.

Broadcaster: Wolverine Radio (Pirate)

Date of recording: 12/25/2021

Starting time: 0056 UTC

Frequency: 6.96 MHz

Your location: Hugo, MN

Receiver and antenna: SDRPlay with a wire loop antenna around the perimeter of the attic

Mode: Single Side Band

BFBS London: February 16, 1991

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Roberto Ciappi, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: BFBS Special daily broadcast to the British troops in the Persian Gulf area, during the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. They were using BBC transmitters in the UK.

Broadcaster: BFBS London

Date of recording: 2/16/1991

Starting time: 0920 UTC

Frequency: 21.59 MHz

Reception location: Northwest Italy

Receiver and antenna: Sony CFD-444S Stereo cassette recorder with telescopic antenna

Radio Romania International: December 23, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following recording and notes:

Date of recording: 12/23/2021

Starting time: 0058

Frequency: 7.325 MHz

Reception location: Hugo, MN

Receiver and antenna: SDRPlay with a wire loop antenna around the perimeter of the attic

Notes: Program Information:

0:00 Interval Signal
1:57 Intro
3:00 News
6:45 Story about prime minister in discussion with EU about pandemic
10:05 Story about 1989 uprising
14:35 Personality of the Year
15:50 Music
18:50 Society Today
25:25 Visit Romania
30:00 Sport
32:30 Folk/Christmas Music
44:05 Happenings in Romania
53:25 Music
57:00 Information and Sign off

Radio Piepzender, December 26, 2021: 7445 kHz

Recording of Radio Piepzender, December 26, 2021, at 1320 UTC (shortwave frequency of 7445 kHz)

Station: Radio Piepzender
Place of reception: Europe
Language: English & Dutch
Frequency: 7445 kHz shortwave
Date: December 26, 2021
Time: 13.20 UTC
Transmitter location: Zwolle, The Netherlands
Transmitter power 0,2 kW
Receiver: SONY ICF SW1 portable
Location of receiver: outdoor (far away from buildings to limit the man-made noise interference)
Antenna: internal telescopic 0,5 meter long
Recording device: SONY portable cassette tape recorder

Telstar Radio, December 25, 2021: 6045 kHz

Recording of Telstar Radio, December 25, 2021, at 1353 UTC (shortwave frequency of 6045 kHz)

Station: Telstar Radio
Place of reception: Europe
Language: English & Dutch
Frequency: 6045 kHz shortwave
Date: December 25, 2021
Time: 13.53 UTC
Transmitter location: Nauen, Germany
Transmitter power 100 kW
Receiver: SONY ICF SW1 portable
Location of receiver: outdoor (far away from buildings to limit the man-made noise interference)
Antenna: internal telescopic 0,5 meter long
Recording device: SONY portable cassette tape recorder

Radio Austria International in German, August 3, 1996: 6155 kHz

Recording of “Kurzwellenpanorama” programme, a German language media show of Radio Austria International, transmitted on_August 3, 1996 on the shortwave frequency of 6155 kHz. Recording has been made in Europe, using SONY ICF SW 77 receiver and the 20 meter longwire antenna located in the urban downtown city, with the balloon, mount only around 2 meters above earth level close to the building’s walls. For the recording of the programme a small SONY cassette recorder was utilized, with a modified cable connecting the line-out socket of SONY SW 77 receiver and the MIC socket of the cassette recorder.

In the recording you can hear the voice of Mr. Wolf Harranth known to DXers all over the world from his programmes on Radio Austria International (e.g. “Kurzwellenpanorama”, "DX Telegram"). Wolf Harranth died on August, 3, 2021 at the age of 80 years.

VOA Ashna Radio, 11 December 2021: 9835kHz

Recording of VOA Ashna Radio in Pashto & Dari on December 11, 2021 at 1430 UTC (shortwave frequency of 9835 kHz)

Station: VOA Ashna Radio
Place of reception: Europe
Language: Pashto & Dari
Frequency: 9835 kHz shortwave
Date: December 11, 2021
Time: 14.30 UTC
Transmitter location: Woofferton, United Kingdom
Transmitter power 250 kW
Receiver: SONY ICF SW1 portable
Location of receiver: indoor
Antenna: outdoor 15 meter wire
Recording device: portable wav file recorder

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