Eye Radio's Technician Emmanuel Kenyi configuring the setup newly solar system in Yambio on Sept 30th 2024. Photo Credit: Charles Wote/Eye Radio

Eye Radio’s repeater station at Yambio City in Western Equatoria is back on air after the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Juba donated $24,995 for the installation of a solar power system.

A team from the radio station took a tedious 36-hour journey through poor roads to Yambio on September 28 to help in rehabilitating the repeater station and install the solar system.

Christian Sedat, the German Ambassador to South Sudan, said his government is happy to support the first independent radio station in the country in its determination to extend coverage to Yambio and Aweil.

In an interview with Eye Radio on Tuesday, Mr. Sedat said the intervention came after the management of Eye Radio reached out to the Embassy requesting technical support to fix the power issues that affected the Yambio and Aweil repeaters.

“Eye Radio reached out to Germany Embassy several months ago and pointed to several technical difficulties in the transmission throughout the country and we have looked into it and we provided support for two regions of Aweil and Yambio,” he said.

“Then what is celebratory to announce is that due to this support of the Germany Embassy, listeners in Yambio are back on air. So, I want to say special greetings to your listeners in Yambio and welcome back.”

Initially known as Sudan Radio Service (SRS), Eye Radio was founded in 2003 to provide accurate, reliable news and information and serves as a platform for promoting peace, democracy, and human rights in the country.

The over $24,000 donation from the German Embassy has enabled the station to install a 1.5-kilowatt solar system and a 10.6-kilowatt-hour battery bank to power the Yambio repeater station.

Stephen Omiri, the Chief Executive Officer of Eye Media, said the relay station in Yambio went off air after the stat’s electricity company introduced a cost reduction in its power supply approximately in July 2024.

Welcoming Germany’s support, Omiri said the solar power system in Yambio and a similar installation to be made in Aweil in Northern Bahr el Ghazal will keep the repeaters operating without power interruptions.

“Our transmitter requires a lot of power so we went off air and we have to now go around and look for funding from well wishers and we wrote a couple of letters good enough we were lucky to get reply from Germany Embassy.”

“The German Embassy were able to give us $24,995 to restore back the power, buy batteries and solar panels to ensure that Yambio and Aweil are back on air. So, we are really grateful to the embassy because you see it is going to allow people of Yambio to have access to information.”

Omiri said the station intends to install similar power systems in Bor, Malakal, Baliet, and Kuajok with funding from the U.S. government through USAID.

Eye Media’s technician, Emmanuel Kenyi assured the people of Yambio that the new solar power system installed there has a capability of about 15 years.

“I will anticipate that even without sunshine, we will still go for more than 17 hours [because] the battery bank is huge, I will say that Yambio will always be on because the power is massive and technically solar panels last for 30 years. So the system we have installed in Yambio can stay for more than 15 years.”