UJOSS Welcomes Withdrawal of Speaker’s Standardised Images

(JUBA) – The Office of the Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly has withdrawn official portraits of Rt. Hon. Joseph Ngere Paciko that were circulated for use across government, media, and public platforms.

The decision followed feedback from media stakeholders on editorial independence and access, and an assessment of the impact of standardised portrait use on press freedom and public discourse.

The portraits had been issued to standardise visual representation and to address misrepresentation.

The action had been prompted by what the Speaker’s Office called the repeated use of poor quality, low resolution, or distorted images of the Speaker in news reports, social media content, and official communications. The Office stated that such images undermined the dignity of the Office of the Speaker.

The Office of the Speaker said it had taken note of concerns raised by the media fraternity and the public regarding the published official portraits. It directed the withdrawal of the circulated portraits, stating that:

“The Office remains open to dialogue with the Association for Media Development in South Sudan, the Union of Journalists of South Sudan and individual media houses.”

The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) welcomed the decision to withdraw the portraits.

In a related development, the Union of Journalists of South Sudan met with the Egyptian Ambassador to South Sudan, H.E. Hazem Mamdouh Fawzy, on Wednesday to discuss areas of partnership. The discussions focused on strengthening relations between the Union of Journalists of South Sudan and the Egyptian Embassy.

Main areas of exploration included capacity building to enhance skills and professional development for South Sudanese journalists. Oyet Patrick, the president of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan, said, “We believe that Egypt can play a key role in professional skills development for journalists in South Sudan.”

Oyet also suggested possibilities of joint story production or collaborating on shared media projects and editorial content on topics such as the shared history of Sudan, South Sudan, and Egypt.

He also raised the history of African nationalism and Pan African movements, including the role played by Egypt in the decolonisation of Africa, the role of Egypt alongside other African countries in moving Africa forward in this century, and environmental protection stories.

The Egyptian envoy expressed optimism. He said journalists and media, if properly used, can play a key role in uniting people and promoting development:

“There are many Egyptians who were born here, some of them were born in Juba, others in Malakal and other parts of South Sudan which of course was Sudan. Egypt has been here before independence of South Sudan, we were one at one time and we should promote cooperation for the future of the peoples of the two countries,” said Ambassador Hazem.

The discussion also focused on media exchange programmes to foster cross border learning and cultural exchanges between journalists.