The management of Grace FM in Kajokeji says the station has been off air for nearly a month due to lack of electricity.
“We have stopped operations because we do not have power. We use solar and generator to run the station but the solar battery has gone down and fuel is expensive for us at the time,” said Steven Sokiri, the CEO of Grace FM yesterday.
He said the radio has lost much of its income generating activities due to the conflict in the country. “There are no businesses, humanitarian organisations, mobile phone operators working here that used to bring advertisements and announcements to us but now they are not working and it Is hard for us to get income,” he said.
Sokiri said however that he is working hard to restore on air the radio urging well-wishers to help fund the station.
A radio listener who identified him self as Kepa in Kajokeji said people in the county now rely on media from the nearby Uganda. He said of the three FM radios in Kajokeji two are still working: Voice of Kajokeji FM is bringing sometimes news from South Sudan Radio and Hope FM is bringing Voice of America news.
The radio listener added that people in Kajokeji lost Miraya FM a long time ago. He pointed out that Eye Radio can be heard in the morning and at cold hours in areas such as Keruwa and Kala. He added that Juba-based City FM which brings BBC also can be heard sometimes in other locations in the county.
The so-called Yei River State has nine FM stations, seven of which are off air. All four FM radios in Yei town are down, namely, Spirit FM, Easter FM, Liberty FM and EPC radio, while both FM stations in Morobo County are also off air. Voice of Kajo Keji and Hope FM are the only stations still on air.