On Tuesday, a middle-aged man was charged with establishing a radio station without a valid license in front of the Kisumu Magistrates Court.

Austin John was charged with two other counts in addition to four counts of operating a radio station without a valid license and two other counts of providing radio broadcasting services.

Ms John appeared before Justice Joan Wambilianga and entered a not-guilty plea to each of the four accusations. She was then freed on a Ksh—100,000 bonds.


The prosecution has lined up nine witnesses to testify on September 6.

A license from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) is required to launch a radio station in Kenya. One must pay for a public broadcasting license, a commercial or private broadcasting service, or community broadcasting services, depending on the type of broadcaster they want.


If one wants to play music protected by copyright on the station's broadcasts, one must also request a license from the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK).