A community radio station in Harare has taken the government to court in an attempt to force it to break the monopoly of the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.

Community Radio Harare (Corah) has filed an urgent application in the High Court to compel the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe and the Minister of Information and publicity to issue it with a licence to broadcast.

In its application, Corah cites BAZ as the first respondent and Minister of Information and Publicity Webster Shamu as the second respondent.

Corah is also seeking an order to compel BAZ to call for broadcasting licence applications.

In High Court application filed earlier this month, Corah says it had applied to BAZ on September 28 last year for a community radio broadcasting licence, as well as notifying it of the station's state of readiness to broadcast.

The application was subsequently declined on January 24 on the grounds that there had been no call for licences as provided for under Section 10 of the Broadcasting Services Act. The section states that applications can only be received and processed after BAZ has made an invitation for such applications.

Corah contends that it has not been possible to apply for a licence because BAZ has not called for applications for community radio stations since the enactment of BAZ in 2001.

It adds that the authority's failure to call for and issue licences "is on its own an illegality and must be justified".

Corah further contends that BAZ has a duty to enable eligible applicants to apply for and obtain radio licences and that, as an aspiring broadcaster, Corah has a legitimate expectation to be provided a fair and reasonable opportunity to apply and be granted a licence.

Corah is also demanding that BAZ be compelled to make a call for licences twice a year.

The high court application was filed by Wellington Pasipanodya, a member of Zimbabwe's Media Lawyers Network, with the support of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

The respondents - BAZ and the ministry - have yet to file their responses.

Corah was formed by residents of Harare in 2003, two years after the enactment of the Broadcasting Services Act, which created BAZ as a licensing authority for the broadcasting sector.

The prospective community broadcaster was registered as a trust in 2006 and Corah has developed all the structures requisite for community participation for programming and station management in terms of the law.

Over the years, Corah has gained considerable support from the residents of Harare through various outreach activities.

The station is ready to broadcast at "any time" should it be issued with a licence to do so.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has on many occasions accused the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation of being biased towards President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.