The Minister of Information and Broadcasting has warned that media houses which are not registered that they will be shut down.

Honorable Michael Makuei Lueth said that it is difficult to administer the more than ten printing presses in the country because they are not registered.

Speaking to media in Juba yesterday, the Minister said that all the journalists who are operating in South Sudan will be required to resubmit all their credentials to the Ministry of Information. “All the journalists must submit their credentials for review,” he said  “There are some who are operating without.  And anybody found to be operating without, and any media house found to be operating without, must get prepared.”

Minister Makuei Lueth said that new journalists’ identity cards will be issued and anyone found with an old identity card will not be allowed to work as a journalist. He also said that the government will assess credentials to make decisions on who will be registered as a journalist.

“It’s not a question of me knowing how to read and write that I qualify to be a journalist,” he said. “It is high time for us after this to regulate everything.”

As well as registering as a media house, printing presses must also be registered the Minister said.  He also urged all those working in the media not to exploit what they may see as the vacuum created by the lack of a Media Authority.

“In our field, it is our duty to ensure that whoever operates here in this field of information and media is registered,” he said. “We will continue to manage it up to the establishment of the Media Authority. When the media bills are out they will be – the Media Authority will be established, and it is the Media Authority that will manage all this. In the absence of the Media Authority, we will continue to manage this process until time comes when it is handed over to the Media Authority.”

South Sudan is operating without a media Law that govern the work of media houses. Last week. President Salva Kiir returned the bills to the Assembly for amendment.