BOTSWANA'S National Broadcasting Board has withdrawn a broadcasting licence from controversial Zimbabwean investor, Oscar Kubara, and his Munhumutapa Afrocan Broadcasting Corporation, writes Lekopanye Mooketsi in Mmegi.
Kubara's tricks in trying to set up a broadcasting outfit in Botswana have run out and the NBB has withdrawn a licence awarded to his proposed Pan-African television channel.
The NBB chairperson, Dr Masego Mpotokwane revealed on Friday that they have withdrawn the MABC licence, though he did not disclose the reasons. The MABC was granted a satellite subscription television service licence in December 2007 but since then, the company has failed to commence broadcasting. The conditions of the licences were that the company should start broadcasting within six months after the issuance.
But the MABC failed to meet the deadline and was given an extension of six months. The company still failed to meet the second deadline which expired in December 2008.
When he was initially granted a licence, the smooth-talking Kubara claimed that the subscribers were going to pay P100 for a number of channels. He said MABC is going to broadcast in a number of African countries. But just like his big promises to the Botswana Football Association (BFA), the quest to broadcast in the country has become a cropper.ÂÂÂ
In 2008, Kubara mesmerised the soccer fraternity in Botswana when he said that his company was going to sponsor the Premier League for a massive P60 million for three seasons. The Premier League did not renew its sponsorship deal with cellphone service provider, Mascom due to the unprecedented sponsorship that MABC promised.
Click here to read the full report, spoted on Mmegi's website.
