Kokoliliko FM, a radio station belonging to a Malawi Congress Party (MCP) agency Kokoliliko Holdings, is set to go on air next month, February 2024.
Kokoliliko Holdings is a brain child of a well-known MCP operative, Daudi Suleman, who is the current head of the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (Macra), a state funded agency mandated by law to issue and regulate broadcasting licences in the country.
The company comes out from Kokoliko Movement; an MCP youthful wing led by Suleiman which crisscrossed the country during the campaign period towards the 2019 Tripartite and the June 23, 2020 fresh presidential elections.
In 2020, Suleman, speaking in his capacity as director of Kokoliliko Holdings, told journalists in Lilongwe that the MCP agency was investing a whopping MK77billion in various ventures, which included media, telecommunication and farming.
He had claimed that the firm had already secured funding worth $50 million (K39 billion) from international financiers for its projects while the remaining $50 million will be raised locally through public shareholding initiatives.
Suleman said they will follow the cooperative model on their projects, with participants being part of investors through shareholding.
It is not clear on whether Suleman had resigned as head of Kokoliliko Holdings at the time of his appointment as Director General of Macra.
Kokoliliko FM goes to air barely a year after Macra had shut down other privately owned radio station such as Ufulu, Rainbow among others, who ironically were critical of the current regime.
The establishment of Kokoliko Holding Limited by renowned MCP operatives had raised eyebrows, with the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) fearing for worse.
Malawi president, an automatic presidential candidate for MCP in next year’s elections Lazarus Chakwera, spoke on August 25, 2020, in favor of the award of the country’s third telecom license.
The head of state – who was participating in a video conference interview organized by Invest Africa, the London-based business and investment platform – said a new mobile operator, would foster competition in the country’s telecom industry, thereby improving the quality and cost of telecommunications services in Malawi.
Chakwera’s statement comes in a particular context marked by the expressed ambition of Kokoliliko Holdings Ltd (KH) to enter the Malawian telecom market through a subsidiary.
