Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
THE Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) has opened applications for three Temporary Free-to-air Religious Community Radio Broadcasting Service licences in Harare, Bulawayo and Masvingo as Government moves to widen access to community broadcasting through a pilot licensing programme.
In a notice, BAZ chief executive officer Engineer Matthias Chakanyuka said the invitation follows the allocation of the relevant frequencies in terms of General Notice 894 of 2026 and is part of the authority’s trials on licensing communities of interest.
“This invitation is being extended as part of the trials being conducted by the Authority in the licensing of communities of interest,” said Eng Chakanyuka.
He said application forms can be collected from BAZ offices in Harare or downloaded from their website, with the closing date for submissions set for September 4, 2026.
According to the notice, applicants will pay an application fee of US$2 000, while successful licensees will be required to pay an annual regulatory fee of US$7 060.
The temporary licences, which will run for five years, will be issued to broadcasters operating in Harare, Bulawayo and Masvingo, with three licences available under the current invitation
The latest call for applications marks another step in BAZ’s efforts to expand broadcasting services and test the viability of licensing specialised religious community radio stations before broader implementation of the programme.
Masunda judgement deferred pending Pswarayi’s arrest
Prosper Dembedza
Herald Correspondent
Harare provincial magistrate Mr Tapiwa Kuhudzai has deferred judgement in the case of Tauya Masunda and Tinashe Pswarayi, the son of the late freedom fighter and medical practitioner Edward Munatsireyi Pswarayi, to July 16 following indications that Tinashe is still on the run.
The warrant of arrest was issued last month against Tinashe and his accomplice Masunda, after they failed to show up for judgement.
The complainant, senior lawyer Caleb Mucheche, who is also the executor of the estate, testified during trial together with the deceased’s UK-based daughter, Ms Chenayimoyo Pswarayi, about the rampant theft of rentals amounting to US$52 000 by Masunda and Tinashe, between June 2014 and November 2014, before the appointment of the executor.
Mr Mucheche told the court that Masunda and Pswarayi unlawfully created two bogus shell trusts as part of a web of fraud and theft, which they used to steal the US$52 000 in violation of section 42 of the Administration of Estates Act (Chapter 6:01).
The case was initiated by United Kingdom-based Takunda Pswarayi, a sibling and one of the beneficiaries of the estate.
Tinashe, a trustee of the late Dr Pswarayi’s estate, is unemployed, while Masunda serves as the director of City Accounting and Secretarial Services and is also a trustee of the estate’s Tondori 1 and Tondori 2 trusts.
Prosecutor Polite Chikiwa informed the court that in 2009, Dr Pswarayi registered his properties under two trusts.
Tondori 1, which contains Munatsireyi Service Station and a commercial building in Machipisa, Harare, while Tondori 2 encompasses two residential stands in Borrowdale Brooke, a supermarket in Kambuzuma, another residential stand in Kambuzuma, and a 51 percent shareholding in Tondori Farm Private Limited located in Beatrice.
After Dr Pswarayi’s passing on June 8, 2014, all properties remained under the two trusts, with Tinashe and Masunda as trustees.
That same month, the accused allegedly began collecting rental income from properties registered under the estate.
The prosecutor claimed that in June alone, the pair received US$9 835 in rentals. However, they failed to remit the funds to the executor or report the transactions to the Master of the High Court, as required under Section 42 of the Administration of Estates Act, Chapter 6:01.
The alleged misappropriation continued, with the duo collecting a further US$42 400 in monthly rental income between August and November 2014.
Despite their fiduciary duties, they allegedly did not distribute the funds to beneficiaries or account for them to the executor or the Master of the High Court.
As a beneficiary of the Estate, Takunda was entitled to 10 percent of the rental income, but reportedly received no payment during this period.
It was only in December 2014, following the appointment of Advocate Caleb Mucheche as executor dative by the Master of the High Court, that Takunda uncovered the alleged misconduct.
Prosecutors contend that the accused failed to comply with the legal obligations governing the administration of estates, which require any individual in possession of a deceased person’s assets to surrender them to the executor or report to the Master of the High Court.
The total amount allegedly misappropriated stands at US$52 235 and nothing has been recovered.
