The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs says there is need to give media freedom to allow it give information about the national dialogue to the public.

Hussein Maar Nyuot says the media has been quite due to fear of arrest and shut down.

He says the media is the most important tool that can enable everyone to understand the process of the national dialogue.

Mr. Maar was speaking during a presentation on the national dialogue by the government yesterday.

“There is that fear that whoever writes an article to be published on features of individuals, you will be subjected to arrest, and peace has come to the country!” Mr Maar said.

“The president made it very clear and he started it with the national prayers that we conducted very well with the steering committee. Now we are moving to national dialogue. The media is quiet; people don’t talk about it until it is said by somebody. I think this is very dangerous because mobilization of the public needs a prerequisite before we even sit for the national dialogue,” he said.

“It should happen now that the newspapers, the radios, whether private or the national radios, the TVs and all these should come out with a message that the national dialogue could come in. But, your Excellency, [it will not happen] until we call a spade is a spade,” he addressed his concern to Vice President James Wani Igga.

At the same occasion, the Chairperson of the Lands Commission, Robert Ladu, said there is need to check on the security sector to allow transparency and open discussion.

He spoke as a member of the National Liberation Council.

“The second thing is for us to be transparent and to discuss openly because it is an open secret that the country is in a state of decay. We need to check on our security operators,” Mr. Ladu said.

“The security extends not to those who work in it but If I have to extort money from somebody and I have a security man, I use the security to threaten him. Even to address this one issue, even if someone is competing over women, I used the security to threaten him. So this is a very dangerous thing. So this is a very dangerous thing,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Roads and Bridges, Rebecca Joshua Okwachi, says despite the challenges in the sector, the media need to do more to inform people.

“The issue of the media and I would like to challenge my colleagues the journalists in terms of media. Our media is a big problem. I know there is a cry, we are being cracked down, this is happening and we have been talkingof the role of other institutions,” Ms. Okwaci said.

“But I am not seeing anything in the media. As a professional journalist, I am sorry I am not seeing anything happening, even newspapers, who will be buying now? I don’t know whether it is training or what,” she said.

“Some of them are private but also let us start from inside also our media. During the revolution, only two hours and we were shaking the whole world. Even Khartoum was running,” she added.

In response, Vice President Dr. James Wani Igga, said a schedule will be draw to sensitize and caution security organs.

“Number one is that we have to caution and sensitize our security,” Dr. Igga said.

“You are right,” Dr. Igga responded concerns of lack of media freedom. “Actually, I am drawing out a schedule which will include going to the state and to the different departments and institutions, the different organs of national security and so on. We will actually have to address that,” he said.

Vice President Dr. James Wani Igga presented the progress on the national dialogue.

Magdoline Joseph contributed to this report