Sat
in the comfortable surroundings of a hotel lobby in Nairobi, it is hard to
imagine the series of events which has brought John Penn de Ngong to his
current predicament in Kenya.
 |
|
John
Penn de Ngong is currently living in Nairobi
after being forced from South Sudan |
A
prominent South Sudanese journalist, activist and writer, Penn was forced into
exile after receiving a number of threats against his life. He talks
passionately about the harassment he has suffered at the hands of the South
Sudanese government, and his frustration at watching a cause for which he
fought turned into an instrument of oppression.
Following
Penn’s story is no easy task. He has travelled extensively across the
region, working for a large number of media outlets, espousing various causes
and becoming embroiled in politics. He fought as a child soldier in his
country, and the passion he holds for independence, for freedom and for
promoting human rights has emerged from many years of witnessing and opposing
severe oppression. And he is still only 38 years of age.
As
well as his extensive writing and other activities, Penn runs an organisation
called the United Scribes, Teachers and Artists of South Sudan (USTASS), which
advocates for the rights of minority professions in the recently formed
country.
His
work with the group was the primary reason for him having to flee South Sudan.
“In
one week I lost two colleagues,” he said, explaining that a fellow writer had
been killed and another activist was kidnapped, with his whereabouts still
unknown. USTASS has been labeled as a subversive group, and Penn has been
identified as a threat to the peace and stability of South Sudan.
While
living in hiding in Juba, Penn’s hotel room was ransacked. Fortunately he
was out of the room at the time, but hard drives containing some 500GB worth of
work and information were stolen from his room, and a message was left on his
pillow. As well as a letter demanding that he stop his work a bag of
rotting animal bones was also left on his bed.
He
is convinced that the government’s National Intelligence and Security Services
(NISS) was behind the incident, and he became truly fearful for his life in
South Sudan.
Penn
arrived in Nairobi on January 31, 2013, having decided that “the threat to my
life became too much – I could not bear it.” A campaign of text messages,
emails and letters threatening his life and warning him about his future had
forced him into a life in exile.
“I
have to leave”
“I
became a journalist as part of a process in my career, I chose a career of
being a writer in the future and I dreamt of being a writer and publishing my
own books,” he said, adding “so I said the only way to be a good writer is to
be a journalist, so that made me join the Sudan
Mirror in 2004 here in Nairobi.”
His
work in the following years, which saw him moving between Nairobi, Kampala and
Juba, resulted in him being attacked on a number of occasions and even
kidnapped.
He
also founded a number of newspapers and magazines, but financial issues led to
his ventures collapsing. This caused him to focus on working for daily
newspapers and USTASS, which resulted in the subsequent consternation from
security forces.
“They
told me that if I left the country they would easily find me, so I should not
leave,” Penn explains, noting that the messages stated: “What we are telling
you is that we will not kill you, we just want you to give up your campaign,
your writing and all this nonsense.”
“I
said no, I have to leave,” he added.
Penn
referred to the upcoming election in 2015, and the fact that he and his
organisation have already been identified as enemies of the government.
Like other countries in the region, working as a journalist in South Sudan
during election time is more than likely to be a dangerous and generally
unrewarding experience.
Taking
all this into consideration, Penn chose a life in exile and managed to escape
Juba with the help of a former colleague, reaching Nairobi, without work, money
or a place to stay.
A
difficult dilemma
Penn
is unsure as to the best way forward to ensure safety and security in the
future. He is questioning whether relocation to a third country would be
the preferable solution, and feels a sense of responsibility for the work he
has been trying to carry out in South Sudan.
“I
left big projects in South Sudan and just locked my office and came here,” he
noted.
“There
is a big group of people relying on me and they want me to carry on their
cause, so I am just in a dilemma of whether to continue with the campaign for
them here in exile, or to shut up and close everything to do with the campaign
and go as a refugee elsewhere – I am still undecided,” he added.
“It’s
a betrayal to them if I close all the 15 blogs online I am managing - if I
close all these I will have locked them out,” he said, adding “this is why I am
still trying to make up my mind.”
Bringing
light and liberating minds
“Media
freedom is good for development, in South Sudan we are just a new country and
for this country to heal from the trauma of the war we need information, and
this information must be free to everybody,” Penn told DCMF.
“With
open media, development will come – without media being open we will not know
what the government is doing, we will not participate in development because if
we are not on air talking about peace and the rights of the people, then
these communities will remain like they were under the old Sudan.”
“Media
is good for my country – that is why I took up media,” he noted, adding “I know
that information is part of the therapy for the country.”
Penn
explained that there are many negative stereotypes affecting members of the
media, as well as educators and artists in South Sudan. These
misconceptions and derisory attitudes prompted him to found USTASS.
“We
need a holistic change of our community through the media – for me media is
development, media is for liberating minds.”
Penn
also highlighted the role that the media can play in correcting misinformation
and developing dialogue and understanding across tribal divides.
“You
have seen the role of media in fighting tribalism in Kenya, those who are
working at KTN
or Nation
are from different tribes and they have become brothers – they can even
inter-marry and there is no political divide later on,” he said.
“This
tribalism was because we were not informed,” noted the writer, arguing “the
biggest group that should liberate Africa from this darkness of tribalism is
media.”
“…utterly
disappointing…”
While
his commitment to media development and press freedom are obvious, the driving
force behind Penn and his desire to change South Sudan is frustration and
disappointment at the way things have turned out following independence.
An
army General with whom Penn used to fight ended up turning on him, accusing him
of being an enemy and a spy for foreign governments.
“It
is utterly disappointing to see that the same government that was in the bush
with me fighting for freedom from Bashir and the Khartoum government, has
turned around now to silence us, to close newspapers and blogs and to shoot
writers in the head,” he said.
This
betrayal of trust has left Penn a man in exile, desperate to contribute towards
the development of media and other areas of growth in the youngest country in
the world.
But
perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Penn’s story is the fact that his is by
no means an isolated example of the persecution facing journalists in South
Sudan. He constantly refers to his colleagues who have been subjected to
similar threats and attacks, as well as those who have ended up in prison, or
worse.
As
such, careful attention needs to be paid to the conditions in South Sudan which
forced him, and large numbers of his colleagues into exile, and steps must be
taken by the government to ensure that freedom of information and media freedom
are firmly entrenched in this young country’s foundations.
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