A regional government in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria State has made a bold step to arrest the runaway destruction of its forests.
Through a provisional order dated June 13, 2024, Morobo County Commissioner Joseph Mawa John sought to put to a screeching halt the clandestine activities of the run-by-night bandit capitalists who – without licenses – have been visiting wanton destruction on large swathes of forest cover in his area of jurisdiction.
And what is commissioner Mawa’s bigger picture? According to One Citizen Daily of Saturday, June 15, 2024, he had “banned illegal logging and large-scale tree-cutting for commercial purposes [including for charcoal burning] in a move to mitigate the effects of climate change … and to preserve valuable forest resources in the county.”
The commissioner’s directive, reported the publication, “imposes strict penalties for non-compliance, including the confiscation of trucks, machinery, charcoal, timber, logs, tools, and other equipment used in the illegal logging process.” And that offenders shall be slapped with a fine of SSP3 million (South Sudanese Pounds). What is more? “[T]he order extends liability to any officials, landlords, or chiefs who are found to be involved in illicit activities, levying a fine of up to SSP100,000 or a six-month imprisonment, or both.”
In his story titled, ‘Morobo County in frantic move to stop illegal logging’, reporter Bosco Bush explained that “[t]he action comes in response to growing concerns over the depletion of Morobo’s forests, which have faced encroachment from both South Sudanese nationals and foreign actors. “According to Remijo Lasu, the Member of Parliament representing Morobo County, those taking [part] in the illegal logging include Italians, Lebanese, Ugandans, and Congolese.”
Bosco Bush reminded readers it was not the first time the MP had raised the red flag over illegal logging in Morobo. In mid-April – and on the floor of the South Sudan National Legislative Assembly, he alerted fellow parliamentarians about the wayward practice, prompting his colleagues “to condemn the unsustainable practices.”
This important One Citizen Daily story needed some sizeable amount of journalistic ‘meat’ to give the readers additional utility value.
First, the story fell short of explaining what amounts to “illegal logging” and where it takes place. Who is an illegal logger: One who owns land with indigenous or planted forest and – out of personal need – decides to cut their trees, or one who sneaks into government forests to benefit from what they did not plant? In any case, what are the required procedures for licensing the so-called ‘legal loggers’?
Second, reporter Bosco Bush did not explain who is responsible for licensing loggers. Is it the ministry of Environment and Forestry under Josephine Napwon Cosmos? And if it is so, how come the Morobo County MP Remijo Lasu – in keeping with parliamentary practice – never sought a statement from the concerned minister? Another thing: the same House Standing Orders don’t anticipate a situation where MPs discuss a matter in vain. How come they, in mid-April [as reported by Bosco Bush] were seized of the illegal logging in Morobo County, but they only “condemned the unsustainable practices”? Highly unlikely. The House must have made far-reaching recommendations to address the problem.
Third, parliamentary tradition and practice demand that MPs substantiate the claims they make on the floor of the House. Mr Remijo Lasu claimed that some South Sudanese were colluding with Italians, Lebanese, Ugandans, and Congolese to illegally harvest trees from forests in Morobo County. Again, the One Citizen Daily story gave no incriminating evidence against those foreign nationals.
Fourth, reporter Bosco Bush failed to give details of the specific species of trees the forest bandits were targeting, the gravity of the problem, including the acreage cleared and for how long and in what particular areas of Morobo County.
Fifth, the story lacked a variety of informed voices such as foresters, environmentalists and the affected communities. There was a faint effort to fetch a comment from the civil society: “civil society activists have been advocating for a thorough investigation into the matter, with CEPO’s Executive Director, Edmund Yakani, calling for targeted sanctions against any individuals found responsible for the illegal logging.” Pray, what does the acronym CEPO stand for? Had the organisation conducted any investigation before taking a position on this matter? The story did not say.
Sixth, it is highly likely that the political upheaval in South Sudan, the youngest state in Africa, may have provided fodder for untoward local and foreign loggers. However, such illegalities must be properly investigated, and findings roped into stories for context and relevance.
Lesson learnt? Any story on South Sudan with far-reaching implications for the country’s ecosystem must be told through the lenses of a wide array of informed and professional, mandated home and foreign voices. Such stories demand concomitant depth and breadth.
