A Christian radio station in Aweil East County of Northern Bahr al Ghazal State does not expect to comply with orders to report only pro-government information. This comes after the station was temporarily shut down last month.
Weer Bei FM is an evangelical radio station broadcasting from Wanyjok, the headquarters of Aweil East County. Its programming consists mostly of Christian teaching in the Dinka language.
The station also airs news, including local news and announcements and some national news stories that are translated into the Dinka language.
Last month it broadcast an interview with a state MP on security events in the state, which reportedly prompted the state government to shut down the station for several days.
The state government threatened journalists of other media outlets at the same time over reports on political and security developments in the state.
Officials held a meeting recently with Weer Bei FM at which they made it “very clear” that the station was to report only what was favorable to the government, according to an informed source.
The authorities took issue with several reports, including a report that the European Union has added SPLA-Juba faction commander Santino Deng Wol to a list of targeted sanctions that ban him from traveling to European countries and from keeping money in European banks.
Authorities did not want this news to be broadcast in the Dinka language, the main language spoken in Northern Bahr al Ghazal, which is the state from which the general hails.
“We want people to know that people are being held responsible,” said a source close to the radio station. “We reject that censorship.”
The station is preparing a letter to government officials “informing them of our mandate to the community and our responsibility to the truth.”
“If we are to continue with news we shall see that we balance our reporting,” the source added.