The Standard newspaper reports that a  new radio station, Zimbabwe Community Radio will start broadcasting today 28 February 2009 joining several privately owned stations forced to transmit their programs from overseas because of the country’s prohibitive licencing regulations.

The station run by Zimbabweans will initially broadcast for an hour everyday from the United Arab Emirates on short wave, 5935 KHZ.

It is expected to add impetus to calls for the new government to prioritise the opening up of the airwaves monopolised by the grossly under funded and inefficient Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).

The station’s local representative William Ndlovu told Standardplus that they would be operating from outside the country because they did not have a license as required by the Broadcasting Act of Zimbabwe (BAZ).

“We will be broadcasting from outside the country beginning today because we do not have a licence and the BAZ never gave us a platform to apply,” he said.

“We will be on short-wave from 10pm to 11pm everyday.”

He said they were appealing to the inclusive government to free the airwaves so that more radio stations could start broadcasting and promote plurality in the sector.

“The new government especially the two MDC parties should fight for the liberalisation of the airwaves since they were the ones who have always been fighting for democracy,” he said.

“We are waiting for a license so that we can operate in the country and if we are not given that license we will continue broadcasting from outside.”

He said Zimbabwe Community Radio would provide a channel for communication on economic, political, social, cultural, and developmental issues that confront the Zimbabwean community.

“Another aim of the station includes creating awareness on the value of community radio for development, freedom of speech, and the promotion of local culture, especially among marginalised minorities,” he said.

Zimbabwe has four-licensed radio stations all state owned and subsidiaries of ZBC.

But a number of radio stations have been operating from Western countries after the government banned Capital Radio, which began broadcasting after it successfully challenged the ZBC Act.

Some of the prominent stations include Short Wave (SW) Radio based in London, VOP Radio Africa operating from South Africa and Voice of America’s Studio 7, which are run by Zimbabwe’s exiled journalists.