BOCRA licenses five community radio stations
Larona Makhaiza | Wednesday August 27, 2025 16:33
BOCRA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Martin Mokgware, launched one of the first community radio stations this week, after UB radio, which has been operating for a few years now.
During the launch, Mokgware stated that the initiative received overwhelming support for its initial stages, with many people coming to the fore to show interest in the non-commercial radio.
“The journey to today’s ceremony began in December 2024 when BOCRA issued a call for expression of interest on non-commercial broadcasting services, and we were pleased to receive 82 submissions from a wide range of entities, including NGOs, academic institutions, religious institutions and associations,” Mokgware said.
While the call received an unwavering support in its initial stages, Mokgware noted that it was time for the official call for the community radios, and the numbers plummeted.
“Following this encouraging response, BOCRA issued a formal invitation to apply in May 2025, and at this stage, we received 20 applications,” he revealed.
From the 20 applications that BOCRA received from the formal invitation, only 25% were granted.
“Allow me to recognise and congratulate the first five entities that successfully completed the process and will today (Wednesday) be officially licensed, and these are: The Eternal Foundation, Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) of Botswana, Men & Boys for Gender Equality, Okavango Human Wildlife Foundation, and Mega Church International,” Mokgware said.
The Eternal Foundation class of license is for a whole community, and the station will cover the Francistown area, while AFM has the license of an area of interest, and the stations will cover Gaborone, Palapye, and Francistown. Men & Boys has the license for a whole community with an area of focus being the Ghantsi area.
Okavango Human Wildlife Foundation has the license for the geography defined with the station set to focus on Maun, Kasane, and Shakawe areas, and lastly Mega Church International, which has been given the area of interest license and will cover Gaborone and Matseta areas.
With the applications of the five entities already successful, BOCRA has given the new licensed entities a period of one year to get their radio running.
To the unsuccessful 15 entities that are left in the lurch and are wondering about their applications, Mokgware said BOCRA is still coming to assist them.
“To the remaining 15 applicants, the journey does not end here, the authority will continue supporting you to reach the licensing stage and we further encourage those who did not make it in the first cohort to continue strengthen their financial aid and technical models,” he said.
On behalf of the newly licensed community radios, Kenosi Kamina of Okavango Human Wildlife Foundation said they are eternally grateful for the license and will put it to good use.
“We express our deepest appreciation for entrusting us with these licenses and we are going to provide excellence and order. We pledge to uphold ourselves to the best ethics,” Kamina happily said.