Dembe FM, one the oldest Luganda radio stations in the country, could soon be shutting down for good.

The Station Management announced on Thursday that they were discontinuing all its programming indefinitely as they figure out its future.

“We regret to inform our esteemed listeners, clients and stakeholders that…the station for the foreseeable future, will have no scheduled programming as the board and management reassess its continued viability as a business concern,” the station management announced in a statement on social media.

A similar announcement aired repeatedly on the station calling on listeners to keep tuning in as they await the next step.

There was no word on the fate of the station’s employees.

By Thursday evening, the station which broadcasts on the 90.4 frequency was playing music and running adverts.

Dembe FM went on air in May 2002, as part of the Dembe Enterprises conglomerate owned by tycoon Kharim Hirji.

Over the years, and following its acquisition by the Nation Media Group, the station rebranded itself as a leading entertainment Luganda-speaking FM radio station targeting female listeners.

The station has faced financial challenges related to taxes and had several run-ins with the government. It has been closed down twice; most recently in 2018 for alleged promotion of witchcraft.

Dembe FM was also closed by the government in 2013 along with all the other National Media Outlets over a news story run in the Daily Monitor about a controversial letter authored by General David Sejusa about First Son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.