OLIVER Mtukudzi has told of his disappointment after failing in his bid for a commercial radio licence.

The superstar musician is a director of Kiss FM, one of the 14 applicants who bid for two commercial radio licences to break the monopoly of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.

But the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) announced last Thursday that it had selected Zimpapers Talk Radio and Supa Mandiwanzira's Zi Radio from a shortlist of four, which also had Kiss FM and Radio VoP.

Mtukudzi said: “Our presentations at the public hearings were absolutely substantial and convincing, and the outcome that we have been denied a licence is very sad news. I am at a loss of words and disappointed."

Despite the setback, Mtukudzi said he is not giving up on radio and would look into the option of applying for a community radio licence when applications are invited next month.

BAZ says it will issue out licences for limited radius community radio stations in 14 urban centres, including Harare, Mutare, Bulawayo and Gweru.

MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube have both been critical of BAZ's final decision, saying it was re-inforcing Zanu PF's control of the airwaves.

Mandiwanzira, a former ZBC reporter, was until recently chairman of the pro-Zanu PF Affirmative Action Group (AAG), while Zimpapers Talk Radio is owned by the Zimbabwe Newspapers Group - publishers of several state-run titles, including the Herald.

But Mandiwanzira insisted on Sunday that his bid had won based on merit.

“Who else deserves a licence other than me? Am I not Zimbabwean? For those who are basing their criticism on my being a former ZBC journalist, SW Radio Africa’s Jerry Jackson, VOP’s John Masuku and most Studio 7 staffers are also former ZBC employees and that is not a crime because ZBC was the only institution available to give us broadcasting experience," he said.

“Journalists should actually be happy that one of their own won the licence instead of writing negatively about me,” he said. “Politicians should have applied for licences if they wanted them."

Mandiwanzira is the biggest shareholder in Zi FM with 70% followed by Hebert Nkala (15%), a South African company Urban Brew with 10% and Molice Mandinyenya (5%).