The proposed pan-African satellite television outfit, Munhumutapa African Broadcasting Corporation (MABC), has failed to meet the deadline set by tBotswana's National Broadcasting Board (NBB) for it to have started broadcasting by January 1, writes Lekopanye Mooketsi in Mmegi.
But no action has been taken against the company which has been failing to comply with its licence requirements.
MABC was granted a satellite subscription television service licence in December 2007 in terms of which the company should have started broadcasting within six months.
When it failed, the deadline was extended to December 31, 2008. As is turns out, MABC – which is owned by controversial Zimbabwean businessman Oscar Kubara – has failed yet again.
When he accepted the licence in December 2007, Kubara announced that MABC subscribers would have a menu of at least 15 channels for P100 a month in six months.
When that did not happen, Kubara said in an interview that MABC would definitely meet the extended deadline in December.
Contacted this week, he said the company was "working on a plan" and would issue a press statement. "We are communicating with the NBB," he said, but would not elaborate: "That is not the way we do business. We will talk to the press when we are ready."The Chairman of NBB, Dr Masego Mpotokwane, says he is waiting for a briefing on MABC from his technical department members of which have just resumed work after the Christmas break.
"When MABC asked for an extension of time last year, one of the reasons it advanced was that its studio equipment had not (yet) arrived," Mpotokwane remembers.
Speaking guardedly, he says a licence can only be withdrawn if there is failure to comply with its requirements and that there are many factors taken into consideration before such drastic action may be taken.
Click here to read the full-report, posted on Mmegi's website.
