I delayed writing this piece because I wanted Ateny Wek Ateny, the new Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services (MICT&PS), to first take the oath of office, seeing President Salva Kiir, who gives and takes, rapidly changes his mind and casually revokes appointments on an impulse. I also wanted to watch his first press briefing after the cabinet meeting on Friday and juxtapose it with that of the abrasive and combative immediate former information minister, Michael Makuei. Alas, there seems to have been no meeting of ministers that day. Now that Ateny is firmly in the seat, unpredictably for how long, let me dig in and give my two cents.
At the onset, my take is that Ateny performed dismally during his last public service job as the presidential press secretary. He made several gaffes, but surprisingly lasted long in that office. This is not a surprise in Kiir’s administration, which rewards mediocrity and fires able people.
It is important to try to understand the man-Ateny. After independence, he started writing a column in Nhial Bol’s now defunct ‘The Citizen’ newspaper in Juba, in which he wrote a column titled ‘Beating the drum of truth’ through which he berated Kiir and his government for graft and mismanagement, among other things, albeit in atrocious English. While moonlighting as a newspaper columnist, Ateny posed as a civil society activist during the day and would attend the endless workshops in that sector, which come with free lunches, and at times allowances.
Ateny also passed off as a lawyer and journalist. However, he was never a member of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJoSS). His lawyer credentials are even more opaque, and no one, including those who knew him well before and in London, has seen his certificates or remembers him attending law school. He is also not on the advocates’ roll of South Sudan. Arop Malueth Manoon, the president of the South Sudan Bar Association, can help the public clear the air here. Ateny’s continued acceptance to be called Moulana (Counsel) smirks of dishonesty, which is not a hallmark of leadership, even by South Sudanese standards. So, in sum, the new information minister’s academic background, or the lack of it, is shrouded in mystery. Not that it matters to Kiir, because all he requires is sycophancy, not delivery.
Ateny is a political artful dodger, who some claim is a hired hand to tarnish images, citing his tirade against Former Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel shortly before the latter’s sacking, survived and was appointed presidential spokesperson in 2013 and served until 2022. It makes him the longest occupant of that office to date. In that position, he made several gaffes, though, and embarrassed his boss and the nation, at times internationally.
One such blooper was in June 2016 when our humorous Ateny sent an Op-Ed to The New York Times purportedly written by Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar calling on the international community — “and the United States and Britain in particular” — to reconsider a key component of South Sudan’s peace deal: a hybrid international court tasked with trying alleged war criminals. Instead of punitive justice, they argued, South Sudan needs a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation commission that will unify the country and “guarantee lasting peace.”
Apparently, Machar was oblivious about the article and Ateny and his handlers’ machinations, and clarified that he did not agree with its contents. Even after the embarrassment, Ateny stuck to his guns, defended the article, and told Voice of America (VOA) that establishing a hybrid court would push the country back into violence.
“The situation in South Sudan is very delicate,” Ateny said. “The people you would want to take to the court are still armed. And once they know they are not protected, and they are armed, they may cause havoc.”
Meanwhile, Ellen Murphy, the New York Times senior vice president for communications, said in a statement that they received no notice to correct the article from Machar’s side.
“This piece came to us through representatives of the government of South Sudan with assurances that they were working on behalf of both President Kiir and Vice President Machar,” Murphy said at the time. “Today we learned that Vice President Machar does not agree with the content of the op-ed. We should have sought direct confirmation of the argument of the piece from both parties.”
Ateny put South Sudan on the international stage in a bad light during a very precarious situation, which saw the country descend back into war barely a month later.
Our jolly good Ateny is, however, splendid at telling folk tales and traditional idioms, and anecdotes when giving speeches at functions or while attempting to write his numerous articles on Facebook. Many a time, he has used folktales in a manner that does not suit the function or situation, and later says he was misquoted or taken out of context and has had to explain what he meant for days on end.
Our man loves talking, listening to himself, and being in the limelight. He does not miss events and functions of any nature that can give him a podium, perhaps a tactic to remain relevant and in sight with hope for an appointment, and literally hogs the mike. One such incident was in July 2021, when he was addressing a group of young women and said he flips when he sees a beautiful lady.
“Whenever I see a beautiful woman, my heart races, I feel dizzy, and just want to grab her and drag her and take her because it is something in the blood,” the then presidential mouthpiece said in his native Dinka language.
A brief video of the speech went viral on social media to the chagrin of women’s activists who bayed for his blood and called Ateny out for demeaning women and being a male chauvinist.
“If it’s something in his blood, then it [Ed: he] shouldn’t be out in public unsupervised,” one of the angered women wrote on Twitter. Several unpalatable accusations were made against Ateny following his statement. We will not delve there.
A week before that, still in 2016, the presidential spokesman said he had abandoned Christianity and reverted to his native spiritual belief, which he called Ateny-Dior. We laughed at the office when he was taking the oath of office on Wednesday, when a colleague seriously asked which religious book the new minister used to swear.
Ateny’s past blunders, moral standing, and competence aside, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. One positive thing he said in his maiden speech after taking the oath was that he would work to ensure the safety of journalists and asked them to call him when in danger. He said the same thing while he was the presidential private secretary, to little effect. In reality, security agencies, particularly the notorious Internal Security (ISB) of the National Security Services (NSS), operate ultravires and now even have a law that allows them to incarcerate anyone at will. Ateny knows this and must know that he cannot keep his pledge to protect scribes. He very well knows that he will be seen to be aiding dissent against Kiir if he protects journalists who are blacklisted as detractors. And he knows how Kiir deals with even just perceived enemies. This is a president who promised to kill journalists, and one was gunned down a few days later.
Regarding his new docket, it is lucrative because it has several parastatals, especially the National Communications Authority (NCA), which licenses and receives a lot of money from telcos. In true South Sudanese form, Ateny’s predecessor, Makuei, staffed the ministry and attendant parastatals with his kinsfolk. I can certainly predict that this presents the first point of crisis for Ateny because his own people will want juicy jobs. How he goes about or around it is another matter. We will quietly watch and observe.
On the actual work to be done as the mouthpiece for a nation debilitated by so many ills and in free fall due to a failure of leadership, I do not envy Ateny. He will have to tell man lies in a society full of conjecture, and where rumors are true and come out before official statements. Tough job indeed!
Godspeed Ateny Wek Ateny!
The author, Koka Lo’Lado, is a journalist and can be reached via kokalolado@gmail.com
The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made is the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.