South Sudanese have misunderstood the word ‘Propaganda’
By Isaac Akuoch Chol Akuoch, Juba, South Sudan
September 6, 2016 (SSB) — Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. The aim of propaganda is to fool or confuse the enemy while boosting the moral and spirit of those on the other end of the conflict. It shouldn’t fool everybody!
For propaganda to be effective, it must be very specific, well timed, objective and cleverly articulated. Otherwise that same propaganda can be picked by the enemy and used it as its own, maximally to your detriment. In other words what you carelessly plan and execute as your propaganda becomes another lethal injection to you!
Very thin demarcation exists between propaganda, rumour, lie, gossip and hearsay. It is in this connections and interlinkages of the word propaganda that most South Sudanese fool themselves and appear like clueless people. Propaganda is a sort of war of words and it is practiced conventionally.it requires craftiness and wit of exaggeration.
Do we have a propaganda department in the government of South Sudan? Or is it the job description of all government supporters to manufacture information and circulate it freely? This is the very junction that I need clarity.
Propaganda is a national issue and can somehow affect national security. It is actually a portrayal of maturity, ingenuity and knowledge. In fact every act of propaganda must be known by the National Security and intelligent services (NISS).
Recently disturbing information has been circulated on the internet apparently attributed to high government officials on certain issues. The best exhibit here is the fiasco of the UN protection (invasion, intervention) force. Were those talking against this force given a green light by the government? Was it calculated in the presence of the president? If those people thought they were propagandizing then they are living in different world.
What they were doing was display of incompetence and ignorance of international interactions. UN is not and has never been an enemy of South Sudanese people. Why all those rantings when eventually you recoiled? I honestly maintain that propaganda have no application in this regards, it is diplomacy this applicable.
When Dr. Riek left Juba for the bushes of Equatoria the government passionately appealed to him asking him that nobody was against his live, yet Gordon Buay was busy disseminating information online that he would be captured, that most of his body guards have been killed and that he lost a leg in Khartoum recently.
Now was Mr Ambassador acting with government permission? Did the government find it necessary to lie to its citizen about the death of Riek? Is that really propaganda?
I must also say that the government was continually in a state of worry when the rebels declared that they would capture Juba in a matter of days although they did not have the armaments and the soldiers. This is classical propaganda!
Those who know propaganda are those who have coined Dinka as “MTN”. We are all witness as to how this propaganda is working now! It has consolidate all (virtually I must say) tribes against Dinka. This is the best example of how propaganda can be very effective.
Propaganda is when Bari politicians identify, demarcate and sell lands around Juba to unsuspecting people and later on come out very loud and furious blaming certain communities for grabbing their land! They mobilize their followers and make them believe that the said land was actually grabbed.
Propaganda is effective once the perceived enemy is identify.it doesn’t matter whether that perception is wrong. There must be an enemy so that you think of how to weaken, demoralize or even annihilate it.
Propaganda is like a medicine, it must be prescribed by the doctor. It is taken in doses otherwise you end up poisoning yourself. Any organise people have their committee set aside only to tackle their detractors in propaganda wars, they rest will only give support while the engineers work.
My end point is that our government and people of South Sudan must be very careful of how to propagandize. They must be very rational and careful when using the word ‘enemy’ because at the end you will end being destroyed by your own propaganda.
Isaac Akuoch Chol Akuoch is a South Sudanese freelance writer, he can be reached by:akuochishakho@yahoo.com
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