Why was Trevor Ncube refused a radio licence?

THE MOVEMENT for Democratic Change led by the former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has questioned the wisdom of refusing the Trevor Ncube-owned Alpha Media Holdings a radio licence.

Ncube applied for a licence for Capital FM, a proposed Harare metro radio station that has links with the newspaper publishing house but was beaten to it by Kingstons trading as KE 100.4 FM.

MDC-T said there is something fundamentally wrong with the radio licence awards.

"We hold absolutely no brief for the Trevor Ncube-owned Alpha Media Holdings that had also applied for licences to operate commercial radio stations. However, we are bamboozled by the decision by the BAZ to refuse to grant a licence to Alpha Media Holdings. Surely, something is fundamentally wrong somewhere, somehow."

The MDC said it takes note of the fact that both ZiFM and Star FM are strongly linked to the Zanu-PF regime.

"Infact, these two national radio stations are a de facto extention of the Zanu-PF propaganda machinery."

"It is, therefore, totally unacceptable to have AB Communications, a rather shady company with some links to the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), being awarded two licences to run commercial radio stations in Masvingo and Mutare. Similarly, Zimpapers, the owners of the perennially loss-making Star FM, were also awarded licences to operate two commercial radio stations.

The MDC-T claims that the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) is a statutory body that the Zanu-PF regime has packed with regime apologists and  die-hard Zanu-PF functionaries such as one Tafataona Mahoso; the BAZ chairperson.