Staff reporter
Eagle FM has been barred from broadcasting in Windhoek after it was found in violation of its broadcasting license by the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN), the Windhoek Observer can reveal.
The development has seen listeners in Windhoek unable to access the talk radio station. In terms of its license, Eagle FM is only permitted to broadcast in Grootfontein, Ruacana, Eenhana, Keetmanshoop, Luderitz, Omuthiya, Mariental, Okahandja, Katima Mulilo, Oranjemund, Outapi, Rundu, Otjiwarongo, Oshakati, Swakopmund and Rehoboth. However the station has been illegally broadcasting in Windhoek.
CRAN Chief Executive Officer, Emilia Nghikembua, confirmed to Windhoek Observer on Monday that Eagle FM is not licensed to broadcast in Windhoek and that it had been ordered to cease broadcasting in the capital.
“However, our monitoring exercise to measure compliance to licensing conditions confirmed that Eagle FM was broadcasting in Windhoek. After engagements between CRAN and Eagle FM, Eagle FM ceased to broadcast in Windhoek on 1 February 2021,” said Nghikembua.
She further added that the regulatory body was currently investigating the development, after which it will be able to pronounce itself on the penalties to be given to the station. “The penalties for the prosecution of regulatory offences are set out in Section 114 and 115 of the Communications Act (No.8 of 2008),” said Nghikembua.
The station has been advising its listeners in Windhoek to stream its broadcasts. Eagle FM is a commercial talk show radio founded by John Walenga in 2019 and according to its website, targets mature and discerning listeners, and also communities not catered for in the programming offered by existing radio stations.
Walenga is also a Director of C-Sixty Investment, a company which was awarded a lucrative billion dollar diamond valuation contract with Namibia Desert Diamonds (Namdia) in 2016, which has since been halted by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, after it announced to local media that the deal will not be renewed when it ends in October this year.
