Unfriendly relations with media in South Sudan

By Mayo K. Lado

September 6, 2009 — Media in the world’s democratic countries is treated with respect as the fourth organ of government. Its activities are always developed and promoted, not suppressed. South Sudan also claims to be a democratic nation in the making, at least in principle. Its leadership at the executive, legislative and judiciary organs has been trying to build a good relationship with this fourth arm of government since 2005. But something has begun to go wrong this week.

A new minister in the ministry of Information and Broadcasting has resorted to disabling such a good relationships with the Media. Being a failed former minister of Internal Affairs, Paul Mayom Akec has begun to kill the Media in the South. The man failed to control insecurity in the South and particularly in Juba, the capital. While he was the minister of Internal Affairs, crimes of all sorts in Juba town skyrocketed. Cold blood murders, random shootings, vehicle and motorbikes thievery and violent in bars/hotels and on streets were the order of the day.

The minister just watched helplessly as if it was not his concern or could not do any thing to stop it. The town only came back to life when a new minister, Gier Cuang was installed after Mayom was sacked by President Salvatore Kiir without even his prior notice. Instead of showing him the door to Rumbek to live a private life, the minister was recycled and resurfaced in yet another important ministry of Information. What a pathetic situation!

I blame the GOSS leadership for transferring failures to other institutions. How can a failed minister be transferred to head the fourth organ of government? Now here are the consequences:

1) The minister this week called for an urgent meeting with all the representatives of media houses in South Sudan. He intimidated, bullied and blackmailed journalists in the name of explaining ‘objective reporting’. Mayom made it clear that all the media houses must cooperate with him, otherwise. That doesn’t sound like a chief of a free media state. The law is always the one that guides the media, not an individual leader. Every journalist in all free media countries knows he or she is responsible for whatever he or she writes. The laws are clearer more than what a minister can say. To try to explain the law in a dictatorial and intimidating manner is a step backward on the free media development and promotion in the South.

2) Also in the same week the minister is said to have ordered his government media reporter as to stay away from the executive meetings. These are his institution’s reporters leave alone the rest of us who are currently working for private media. Since private media has no easy reliable access to information in the government, many newspapers depend on news written by the government media reporters. The minister should understand that his actions would only encourage newspapers to speculate or depend on gossipers for news from the government. This will also confuse the public who want to know things the government is trying to do for their welfare. If the government’s policy intends to make information accessible to the public, then why deny it at the same time?

The minister’s predecessors were doing fine in giving freedom to the Media. The new minister wants to control the source of government news. But this is impossible in this world of 2009. South Sudan government or ministry of Information is not a kingdom. The era of ‘Beny’ is over! This culture of keeping as secret what is not secret should be trashed all together. In the villages it could be part of a traditional leader to keep the information for himself so that villagers see him as a big person with a lot of information which they may not know about for years. The ‘Beny’ in this case is now the one to volunteer in telling the public a little piece of information as he wishes during the time his colleagues (subordinates) come to entertain him. That is outdated! We need the culture of openness.

The minister is also said to be giving out press statements that are not news at all. A colleague of mine was sent by our media house to get a statement from the minister, but came back without news. Only 10% of his statement could make news while the rest of 90% was not news at all. He either held back the information deliberately or did not know what makes news. Mr. Minister, give freedom to the Media and open up the government for the Media to access reliable information. At least to your government Media reporters! Otherwise you may risk reading government news based on sources of speculations and gossiping.

The author is a journalist at the Juba based Southern Eye newspaper. I can be reached at: [email protected]