Sunday, 17 July 2011

Written by Robert Odongo

Presidents Salva Kiir of South Sudan and Omar Bashir of Sudan on the day of South Sudan’s Independence where they pledged to be good neighbours, but now Bashir’s government has banned newspapers owned by South Sudanese in Khartoum.

The authorities in Khartoum have stopped newspapers printed in the Sudanese capital from being taken to South Sudan, Minister of Information Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin told journalists over the weekend.

Marial however said that that the country will continue receiving newspapers from other countries such as Egypt and East African countries.

Five newspapers; Khartoum Monitor, Sudan Tribune, Juba Post, The Democrat and Ajrurus al Huria were banned last week by a presidential decree.

By this decree, the National Press Council in Khartoum shut down all English newspapers owned by South Sudanese. Letters were circulated by security personnel to all the chief editors of these newspapers.

The secretary to the press council in Khartoum al-Obeid Ahmed defended the move, saying the Publication Act of Sudan prohibits foreigners from publishing newspapers in Sudan.

The Sudanese government officials siad they acted according to Article 28 of the Sudanese Press Law which requires publishers to be Sudanese nationals.

However, the editors of Khartoum Monitor and the Sudan Tribune, described the directive as racist, and aimed at muzzling English newspapers owned by southerners.

Alfred Taban is the chairman board of directors and chief editor of Khartoum Monitor, while William Ezekiel is the Chief Editor of Sudan Tribune and Osman Shinger is the acting chief editor of The Democrat.

The Democrat is a party newspaper belonging to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM-DC).

The former editor in chief of The Democrat, John Lemi, said the security personnel did not give any explanation as to why Khartoum has taken the move.

According to Lemi the authorities said whoever wants the details on the closure of the papers should have to go to the National Press Council.

“I think it is just an expression of anger and frustration by the Khartoum basing on the fact that South Sudan has become an independent state,” said Lemi, who is also member of Sudan journalists union.

He added that they will contact the National Press Council to find out who will be responsible for paying the pensions and benefits of the employees of the banned newspapers.

According to Simon Boboya, a member of South Sudan Union of Journalists, Khartoum Monitor, Sudan Tribune and Juba Post newspapers have been banned because authorities in Khartoum are bitter that South Sudan broke away from them.

Boboya said even the South Sudanese journalists in Khartoum have been banned from practicing journalism there.

“The irony of it is that they send their Arabic newspapers here for selling, and yet they have banned those belonging to South Sudanese. This is unfair of Khartoum,” Boboya complained.

He added that Khartoum should give some time for these newspapers to continue operating there until South Sudanese get their own printing presses.

“Now it is only the Citizen newspaper (printed in Juba) which has printing press, and now it is down for three days, it is a terrible situation, Khartoum is denying South Sudanese the right to information,” he lamented.

Some employees of the banned newspapers said the closure was unfair to them because they have lost a source of income.

“Look I am not working, where will I get another job? How can I support our family?” wondered Raja Hassan Komi, designer of the Democrat newspaper.

“This is unbelievable,” she added.

A designer at the Khartoum Monitor, Phillip Swaka Ladu, said some government sources say that Sudan government wants management positions of newspapers owned by South Sudanese given to North Sudanese.

This according to the sources, say Ladu, includes management which the sources say needs to be given to north Sudanese.

In the streets of Juba, newspaper vendors complained of loss of income.

A newspaper reader in Juba, Franco Okullu complained; “We don’t have English newspapers coming to the south. What is going on?”

“Only Arabic newspapers are coming here, it is about one week now,” he added.

Out of six English newspapers operating in Khartoum only Sudan Vision and The Citizen are now operating.

The Citizen was initiated by some northerners when the mother Citizen newspaper closed its operations in Khartoum, while Sudan Vision is state owned.

All the state media in Khartoum contacted said they have no ideas as to why these news papers have been banned.