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Capital FM 102.5 Radio has been off air in the capital Lilongwe for one week now raising fears and speculations that the radio has been sabotaged because of its controversial news and debate programmes.
The private radio’s station manager Alaudin Osman said on Thursday rumour has been rife that the radio has been sabotaged to put it off air. But he said after investigations they have discovered there was a power surge on the radio’s transmitter which caused a fault and turned off transmission.
Osman blamed Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) for the fault saying the transmitter was well protected.
“The fault was caused by a power surge which was Escom’s fault,” said Osman.
He said it will take “at least a week” to have the damaged machinery repaired in Cape Town, South Africa where it has already been sent.
Osman said his radio station will negotiate with Escom on how to settle the financial implications caused by the fault.
“Of course, we will pay for the repairs being done in South Africa but later we will have to discuss with Escom on the issue,” said Osman.
He did not say how much money the repairs will cost saying the people doing the repair work have not yet invoiced them.
Escom spokesman Edward Chitsulo said “like everybody else who experiences a fault Mr. Osman should report to the faults centre where he will be assisted accordingly”.
Chitsulo said the faults centre will assess the issue and see whether it was indeed Escom’s fault or not.
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