 Gabriel Kondesi, who was convicted for operating a pirate FM radio in Mulanje, has earned his village a community radio licence from Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra).
Addressing the press Tuesday at its offices in Blantyre, Macra Acting Director General Mike Kuntiya announced that the body had decided to award a community radio licence which Kondesi will head. Makondetsa named his radio Pachikweza and it hit the airwaves on 98.5 FM. Kuntiya said as a community radio, a number of community members will also be involved including chiefs and the District Commissioner (DC). “After various reports in the media, we decided to invite the 'engineer' (Kondesi) to brief us on what happened and map the way forward. “From what we discussed, as Macra, we have offered to revamp Kondesi's structure and equip it properly so that he should be broadcasting properly as a community radio,” Kuntiya said. He further said the regulatory body was expected to pump in not more than K10 million for equipment and that the radio would be running in the next six to nine months. “We do not expect to spend more than K10 million, but we also need to visit the place and conduct surveys to see what will be needed,” Kuntiya explained. He also said his organisation was geared to give Kondesi a scholarship, but changed because of reports that other well wishers had already done that. But his father said he was just hearing reports on the radio that his son had been awarded a scholarship by Kaphuka Private Secondary School. Efforts to talk to the owners of the private school were fruitless. Kondesi, however, expressed gratitude to Macra, saying it was his wish that the radio should continue not only to his benefit, but to the community as a whole. “I have realised that if my dream has to come true on this radio, I need to go back to school to acquire proper knowledge. However, all I am asking for is that while am in school, the radio should continue broadcasting. According to the genius, the community benefited from the radio in terms of communicating important messages like funerals. “I want to reach out to many people not only those in my village, but other nearby villages, but I did not have the capacity. “With this community radio licence, I am sure that more people will benefit from our broadcasts,” he said. Kondesi said his broadcasting was a result of experiments with his Panasonic radio, but he only realised later that he was intercepting air waves for Radio Maria. The radio, which aired programmes illegally for three years, has now stopped its operations as the police confiscated all the equipment. Mulanje Second Grade Magistrate Lameck Mkwapatira slapped Kondesi with a K50,000 fine or in default a 10 month jail term. The standard seven drop out, however, escaped jail when his father paid the fine.
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