SINGAITA FM News

Introduction

Kapoeta state didn’t have a statewide radio station until 2016 when The Radio Community and Internews established a community radio station called Singaita FM, which is supported by the USAID-funded i-STREAM project. The station’s name, Singaita, is from the River Singaita, which cuts across the entire state uniting the three main communities – Toposa, Buya and Didinga.
Singaita 88.3 FM runs on solar power and produces local information in local languages and broadcasts 17 hours
per day to local communities in the broadcast coverage area of 53-kilometer radius. Singaita programs vary in content and focus, including education, health, agriculture and other important issues, as well as music, sports and entertainment. At the core of all the programs is peace building and development, ensuring safe, peaceful and sustainable communities.

Content by category

By the numbers

Station Details

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Singaita Moves to Solar

Singaita FM is now the third TRC network station that is reliant on solar energy. Putting the station on the PV solar power system ensures Singaita FM is on air for 17 hours daily, compared to just eight hours a day previously. TRC’s electrical engineer provided basic training to staff at the station on the use of solar and its performance monitoring after the installation.

“The sun charges the batteries,” explained the TRC electrical engineer. “The batteries then give power to the station’s equipment and transmitter. If the batteries are full, the sun powers the equipment directly. When there is no sun, the batteries take over. We can run for 24 hours with no sun,” he added.

Programs have focused on health, education, governance/business, agriculture, women & girls and youth and sports. The network uses a standardized program format; which can easily accommodate adverts, PSAs and sponsored programs, as well as material and longer programs produced by humanitarian and development organizations.