Are there no journalists in Southern Sudan?

By Philip Thon Aleu

October 21, 2009 – In the Juba Post newspaper issue number 56, volume 5 of June 13—16, 2009 a news article challenging an opinion attributed to me caught me off guard. Can the reader imagine? I never wrote that piece yet it appeared under my name. I contacted some of my friends for advice but one of them gave a simple response: “Do not worry. There are no journalists in Southern Sudan.” Is it true?

I must note here that I am neither condemning or condoning my friend’s advice in that whoever is working in South Sudan now is considered unqualified because the last four years of peace are not sufficient for a better experience. But as I write today, my friend’s statement remain the best counsel and relieve of my stress and frustration. Much of any experience as a good teacher, good moral character, legal or custom norms, professional code of ethic and accuracy are no substitute for vital output in any field let alone journalism. These moral guideline, in my view, does not require a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication for 2 reasons; 1. The best journalists are not trained but born this way. 2. Hard working people are those with lower academic credentials. However, being a trained as a journalist or being in possession of a degree does not exempt one but rather confirms eligibility for journalistic world.

To be brief, in the Juba Post newspaper’s publication, George Garang, the undersecretary GOSS ministry of information, communication and broadcasting in Juba reacted to an opinion article titled ‘Kiir save from dead woods’ and allegedly written by me. According to the Juba Post, the opinion article was published in the Citizens newspaper but date of publication was not included. This was absurd for two reasons. 1. I never wrote the opinion piece. 2. The paper [Citizen] cannot borrow somebody else’s name. Unimaginable! But it happened nonetheless.

In the ‘Kiir Save us from dead woods’, according to the information I gathered later, the author was pressing GOSS President Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit to extend government reshuffling to undersecretaries (the dead woods). ‘A well organized and entitled article but in wrong side ethics,’ I thought after reading it. It was wrong to publish in my name. To me, it was a reprehensible behavior. Period. But despite that I did not ignore or overreact. I contacted the editor in Chief of the Citizens newspaper who first denied the article publication only to acknowledge later. Nhial Bol said he wrote the article himself but paper designers made a mistake to include the name of Philip Thon Aleu. I can not buy how that could possibly happen.

Then back to the Juba Post I told the management I did not write anything like that. In this case, there was an ‘opportunity to reply’ without any issues. Though it was hard to resolve given the time spent, the unfounded writing is settled amicably. Only that the Citizen newspaper, four months ago, has yet to publish a correction verse. But, a wreaking havoc is developing in this trend putting journalists at greater risks.

Many papers in Southern Sudan do not deploy reporters in some states but rely on online or other print press news. Other papers, for unknown reasons, refuse to pay their reporters. It is not bad to take news online. But look; Editors of the papers in question play with their stories and create other complications. I experienced it firsthand last April when a Khartoum based newspaper, the Advocate, changed an article heading, as always with northern papers, to provoke southern Sudan politicians but maintained my name. The article was about Minister Awut Deng Acuil calling for integrity from fellow southern leaders but was molded to ‘Southern Sudan politicians are corrupt,’ says minister. I had to refer Minister Awut to Sudan Tribune to check my original report when I was contacted by Jonglei Deputy Governor.

Thanks to the GoSS ministry of Human Resource management for the understanding. This is risky. Most people who believe in secrecy, given the low level of education and democracy, take reporters as enemies. So, when newspapers managers are irresponsible, not held accountable and inaccurate, acute problems will develop. Chances that wrong information is taken for the whole paper’s position and the reporter’s in particular are very high. If nothing is done by the book, then whether there are journalists in south Sudan remain questionable.

Second, any sector – media inclusive, in a nation should be innovative and contributing to the development of the nation. So, when there are inexperienced but our-own reporters for the first time in the history of Southern Sudan, God be praised.

Whether working for government or independent, reporters, in my view, have a duty to inform the world about neglected parts of the Sudan. How much are southern Sudanese exploited, enslaved or marginalized by Khartoum government is what the world wants to know during the interim period.

Then, is GOSS ready for democracy as preached by Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)? How corrupt is GOSS compared to Government of National Unity led by National Congress Party (NCP)? Why are there no reports of corruption cases in Khartoum? Is that government more transparent or more secretive compared to SPLM’s ran GOSS? And many more questions need to be answered through independent writing.

Then, going back to villages and exposing those injustices like forced marriages, forced labor, child abduction and selective education for children – always gender bias and others.

Not forgetting fertile soil in Southern Sudan but hopes are only mistakenly restricted to crude oil explore by foreign companies. This does not mean that I have done all this in my news reporting, but it needs a combined effort to polish Southern Sudan. Any dirt in Sudan is the south. This is what the past governments have being saying.

For example, I read an article in March, 2009 in one of the Khartoum based papers and I was amused to get that GOSS was written in full as ‘Government of Self Satisfactions.’ I wonder whether that man or woman is really a journalist! GOSS [for Government of Southern Sudan] is a constitutional, legitimate and hard-won system in our country. How can a columnist or a reporter with unknown objectives tarnish it with professional impunity? This brings the question of what is the role of GOSS Ministry of Information if it can not defend government defamation using ‘an opportunity to reply’?

Whether there are no journalists in south Sudan is a generalized question but we must struggle to answer. Other good writers are blindfolded by what I could say is the hang-over of longed divide-and-rule policy. And definitely, these people fail to exercise their talents. Most ‘writers’ resorted to challenge particular events affiliating it to given ethnic group in a game popularly call ‘tribalism.’ This may be another device Khartoum has deployed to keep southern Sudan busy with nonsense but not letting a chance. So, we must wake-up and serve the nation. We must shape the future. By considering what bounded us than what tear us apart, Southern Sudanese can come together and make a united, strong and prosperous nation.

The author is a Sudan Tribune journalist and can be reached at [email protected]