Day: October 5, 2021

South Sudan media rights groups condemned comments by a key parliament member who said that news organizations could have their licenses revoked if they report on parliamentary expenditures — including lawmaker salaries — without prior authorization from the speaker.

Paul Youane Bonju, who is the chairperson-designate of the information committee in South Sudan’s reconstituted National Legislative Assembly, said journalists risk being sued if they do not follow what he termed the proper procedure for reporting on lawmakers’ financial transactions.

“Some [reporters] are new in the field and I need to bring them on board by trying to tell them the right procedures if they visit the parliament, because the parliament is a body that enacts laws,” he said in a news conference last week.

“If you are coming to engage with such a body, you must also be conversant of how to go about it,” Bonju said. “In some instances, some of the media, instead of coming to me or going to the office of the clerk, sometimes they contact either the staffs, or they get the information from sources that are not authorized to release some of the information.”

Bonju cited media reports five years ago about $40,000 that was allotted to lawmakers by President Salva Kiir for allowances and car loans.

The reports about the allotment caused a widespread backlash in the world’s newest country, where the government owes many workers back salaries and the average teacher makes less than $400 per year.

Media groups say Bonju’s comments are an attempt to conceal information from the public as South Sudan attempts for forge a shaky democracy.

Micheal Duku, executive director of the Association for Media Development in South Sudan, said parliamentary members cannot stop the media from reporting on their work which is in the public interest.

“The media is regulated by law and when it comes to information that is categorized, there are classified information and unclassified information,” Duku told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus. “So long as this falls under unclassified information, the public has the right to know.”

Bonju’s comments come as South Sudan journalists are facing increasing pressures on their reporting.

Three journalists recently were detained, and a radio station was closed as the government clamped down on efforts by activists to stage what they called a peaceful public uprising.

Agents also detained a government broadcaster after he allegedly declined to report news about recent presidential decrees on the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation airwaves.

South Sudan ranks 139th out of 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, in which 1 is the freest.

The reconstituted legislature was inaugurated in August this year by Kiir under the leadership of Jemma Nunu Kumba as speaker of the house.

In an interview with South Sudan in Focus, Bonju said his comments were aimed at clarifying parliamentary procedures for press coverage.

“I was telling them, ‘Look, I am not warning you, but I am rather cautioning you to be sure that if you want anything to do with emolument of the MPs, please contact the relevant offices, the relevant departments,'” he said.

Source: Voice Of America

The Supreme Council of Beja Chiefdoms is preparing to declare civil disobedience in the cities of Port Sudan, Kassala and Gadaref because the government continues to ignore their demands, a leading member said on Monday.

Since 17 September, supporters of the Handawa tribal leader Mohamed Turk have closed Red Sea ports and blocked roads linking the eastern Sudan region with the rest of the country calling to cancel a peace agreement related to the area signed in October 2020.

“We are now going to escalate our actions and close the government establishments including the northern seaport and the customs administration. Also, we will declare civil disobedience in the three eastern cities, ” told the Sudan Tribune Abdallah Obshar, Rapporteur of the Supreme Council of Beja Chiefdoms.

Obshar pointed out that the sit-in continues outside the oil terminal of Bashayer Port, which is used to export South Sudan’s oil.

“The terminal can be closed at any time,” he further warned.

Last week, the protesters agreed to cease obstructing the exportation of South Sudanese oil after a meeting with a government delegation, led by a member of the Sovereign Council, Shams al-Din al-Kabbashi.

The government delegation said it made proposals to end the crisis to the leader of the Hadandawa tribe, who asked him to give him a week to consult with his partners.

But Obshar said that the government delegation did not propose any solutions, but rather listened to their position on how to solve the crisis, and requested a week’s time to study it with the government.

He added they plan to launch civil disobedience and close the Bashaer terminal after the end of the deadline requested by the government delegation.

The tribal leader last month said they wants the cancellation of the eastern Sudan peace deal, the resignation of the Hamdok government and the military takeover of government.

The head of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front and member of the Sovereign Council Hadi Idris rejected any attempt to cancel the eastern Sudan deal which is part of the Juba peace agreement.

Idris on Sunday state that the deal provides to hold a conference for all the people of the region, so the tribal leader and his supporters can come to discuss their demands for the region.

The government on Sunday called on the protesters to engage in dialogue to reach a political solution for the eastern Sudan problem.

Also, it said that the country is about to run out of essential medicine, fuel and wheat after the closure of Port Sudan.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Ugandans traveling to South Sudan will no longer have to pay for a visa required to enter into the young nation.

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In a notice issued by the South Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperatives, authorities said that Ugandans with valid travel documents will require no visa to enter the country.

“In the spirit of reciprocity, the gov’t of the Republic of South Sudan has directed the Ministry of Interior through its Directorate of Nationality Passport and Immigration to waive visa entry requirement for Ugandan citizens holding valid passports issued by the government of the republic of Uganda with effect from Monday October 4th, 2021? a statement issued on Friday reads in part.

“All entry and exit including our missions and embassies abroad are directed to comply with the directive,” it further stressed.

This comes just weeks after Ugandan announced it would waive visa fees for South Sudanese entering the country for a visit or general purpose in compliance with the East Africa Community (EAC) treaty.

Officials in South Sudan said the new move would assist the citizens of the two countries holding valid travelling documents to travel freely.

The agreement cancels a requirement to pay $50 effective October 4.

The move by the two trading partners in the East African Community will strengthen trade relations and bilateral cooperation.

Uganda and South Sudan have strong ties, with Uganda hosting a number of high profile South Sudan citizens and refuges.

South Sudan is Uganda’s second leading export destination in the EAC after Kenya.

Source: Sudan Tribune