Second part of my Response to my dear friend and Journalist Mading Ngor Akec Kuai, for Defending Indefensible!
By: Ateny Wek Ateny
November 30th, 2024
Juba; South Sudan
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mading, I saw you yesterday happily sharing the public apology from Eye Radio on the remarks made by Hon. Michael Makuei Lueth, Minister of Information few days ago. That public apology is not valid, because it was obtained through duress, blackmail and coercion. The Eye Radio took the responsibility in an attempt to save Makuei and save itself from being shut down by the only man that operates under his own laws.
As professional Journalist, I think you did not only give support to impunity, but you also attempted to blackmail the public to accept the unacceptable apology. Genuine apologies should have come from Hon. Michael Makuei Lueth himself. Less than that is a blatant attempt to insult public intelligence. Listen to the clip below and maybe with hearing aid, you may understand what did Hon. Makuei utter at Governors’ Forum. Accepting that Makuei did not say what the Eye Radio extracted would requires certain degree of stupidity.
If, any sensible person was to watch/listen to the video clip and see the body language of those who were present in the hall, you would realize how Hon. Makuei was a laughingstock. Yet, he didn’t care even to just check the body language of his audience, the way any sensible public speaker would do. Mading Ngor should be advising his uncle in a better way. “If, you have a lactating cow, the best way to take care of it is taking her to the safe grazing field”. Defending Makuei is ludicrous and credibility consuming.
That is why, I must agree with you Mading about Hon. Michael’s sacrosanctity. No one in the whole country could match him in everything in your own assumption. So, he must continue as Minister forever. Otherwise, Makuei have committed gross misconduct several times, yet he got away with it. He put the whole country into debt the next generation would be paying for centuries, because of his anger issue.
We are the most generous nation that doesn’t care of spending even negligibly. Otherwise, why do we keep a minister that caused the country the considerable disrepute. He (Makuei) made the country to be fined to pay Fattoch Investment Group that owns (Vivacell) the sum of $1 billion USD? The government has also paid more than $4 Million for court fee in an attempt to appeal the court decision. Yet, our Minister of Information still thinks he has public confidence.
Notwithstanding, Hon. Makuei depicts the norms of a local hero. Imagine, he has chosen in 2021 your Radio to disseminate Revitalized Peace Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (RARCSS) and paid you the sum of 75,000,000 (seventy-five Million South Sudanese Pounds only), when your radio doesn’t cover the whole of South Sudan. Radio Terab can only cover Juba, Shirikat, Mangala, Terkeka and the farther it could cover is Guolyar. The Miraya FM, SSBC, and Eye Radio that covers the whole of South Sudan weren’t paid. I have the document of your payment of public money, but I don’t share it unless you want me to do so. So, this is the Makuei you are defending?
Another impunity is that Hon. Makuei always tries to reverse President’s decisions single-handedly and yet he gets away. In 2015, the President appointed Gen. Khamis Chaoul Loum as Director General of the then South Sudan Television (SSTV) now SSBC. And within just one month, Makuei suspended him – prompting Khamis’s rebellion. No one has said anything about this absolute insubordination.
Dr. Akol Paul Koordit was appointed Deputy Minister of Information under Makuei, in 2017, but few months later on February 6th, 2018 Makuei elbowed him out. Then Lily Albino Akol was appointed as Makuei’s deputy few months later she requested the President to transfer her away or she resigned instead. Makuei is unbearable. Lily was transferred to Agriculture. Makuei is always perfect. I bet Dr. Korok is either dead inside him, or the man has been totally subdued to dance Makuei.
Hon. Makuei also suspended the current MD of SSBC Mr. James Magok Chilim Chok, on April 21st, 2020, but he failed (detail withheld) but Hon. Makuei knows how he failed in this. Now, the NCA Director General, Napoleon Adok Gai is struggling to do his work, because of Makuei’s non acceptance of members from other communities working in the media regulatory fraternity. Despite, the independence of SSBC and NCA as parastatals, Hon. Makuei have no room to respect their independence which are sanctioned by law. The law is Makuei and Makuei is the law.
I will visit why others do not agree with Makuei Makuei Lueth in the next articles. In all this or that, Hon. Makuei is always right.
To be continued. Stay tuned.
The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Lakes State Media are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made is the responsibility of the author, not Lakes State Media.
