South Sudanese independent newspaper lays off staff over security matters

August 25, 2015 (JUBA) – The management of The Citizen newspaper, one of the leading independent newspapers in South Sudan, announced on Tuesday that it will lay off staff due to closure of the paper by South Sudanese authorities.

The editor in chief of the paper, Nhial Bol Aken, told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that the management has decided to shut down because it was unable to raise resources to pay the staff after the authorities have closed down the paper earlier this month.

“We have discussed this at managerial and administrative level and we came out with a decision to lay off the staff because we have no resources to continue to pay for them, after the paper has been closed,” the veteran journalist announced during an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

“We don’t know when it would be opened because the authorities gave us an indefinite notice closing down the paper,” he said.

The management, according to Aken, also decided to suspend staff working for its twin television, The Citizen TV, due to security matters, explaining some of the workers live in remote places within the national capital, Juba.

“Some of the staff work up to 10:00 pm in the evening each day, but given the current security situation, we felt it would be unwise to take the risk. So we decided to close down the television until when this situation improves or when there is an assurance from the authorities,” said Aken.

The media house was forced to close down by government security operatives, accusing it of publishing stories that were seen to be anti-government.

Also another journalist, Moi Peter Julius, was gunned down last week in the capital, Juba, by unknown gunmen believed to be government agents, further raising fears among journalists about their safety and movement in the capital.

(ST)