South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Denis Ejulu
Journalism is a profession that has been cherished and respected since mediaeval Europe in the 16th century.
Many old luminaries of the profession have been celebrated as people with an intellect mind, analytical and fully knowledgeable of the environment they live in, and also well informed on global affairs, but contrary to our situation in South Sudan, some journalists have totally veered off the correct line.
Either due to the hard economic times or because of desperation, some of the journalists in this country have turned into persons for hire, to spread misinformation, with the intention of deliberately defaming serious and hardworking persons in both government and the private sector.
Former South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) news anchor, Garang John has become a poisonous chalice for the people of South Sudan with his already discredited and fake posts on social media platforms.
If Garang is not attacking Dr. James Alic Garang, the Governor of the Bank of South Sudan, then he would be writing with malice on any of the staffs working in the Central Bank.
The lies concocted by this gentleman, who passes off as a public intellectual in the eyes of many innocent gullible people, need to be understood as mere allegations published on the orders of some disgruntled and corrupt individuals within the government who pay Garang for his diatribe.
Garang is an example of how the noble profession of journalism has gone to dogs in this country. This gentleman, fled the country after falsely claiming his life was in danger, but none of the intelligence organs or the Union of Journalists in South Sudan (UJOSS) provided any detailed information about his alleged persecution by the National Security Services.
Garang like many other journalists before him such as Joseph Oduho, is desperate to convince the European country where he is currently staying to grant him asylum as an alleged victim of political persecution in South Sudan.
No wonder, he is a busy body on social media, looking for controversy at any moment to persuade or convince his hosts, that he is indeed a sharp critic of the Salva Kiir administration.
Why would Garang focus all his false accusations on the Bank of South Sudan, especially on James Alic Garang? This reveals his sinister motive, which every serious person with the capacity to discern truth from falsehoods should be able to recognize right away.
James Alic Garang, who holds a PHD in economics from the University of Massachusetts, is not only transforming and reforming the Bank of South Sudan at a pace never seen before in this country, but he is also being recognized by reputable international organizations for his accomplishments within his short period at the helm of the Bank of South Sudan.
The likes of Garang are dejected failures in the journalism profession, with not even a single impactful story in their resume.
Journalists are not worth any praise or respect, if they have never written any investigative piece of news or a life- impacting story capable of transforming lives in their country of origin.
Such journalists only talk of the journalism schools they went to, despite not even ever writing any piece of news that impacted even the communities where they hail from.
Good journalism must be defended at all time by those in government and the wananchi, but the journalism practiced by Garang John, which seeks not only to sensualize things but also to misinform and create personal hatred towards those he dislikes, should be tamed and at the same time left to rot in the dustbin of history.
The writer is a journalist based in Juba.
He can be reached at : ejuludenis2013@gmail.com
