3 November 2012 - South Sudanese government officials, lawmakers and journalists exchanged sharply differing views on provisions of pending media laws during the final day of public hearings on three bills currently before the country's National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

Today's proceedings were devoted to discussion of the 2012 Media Authority Bill which would establish an independent Media Authority charged with issuing broadcasting licenses. It would also develop and implement self-regulatory mechanisms for South Sudanese media.

Under the current version of the Media Authority Bill, the South Sudan Council of Ministers would select members of the Authority's board of directors from a list of names submitted by the country's Minister of Information. The nominees for the board would then be appointed by the President and approved by the NLA.

During its presentation at this morning's session, the Juba-based Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) urged legislators and ministry officials at the hearing to adopt a more open process of nomination and selection of board members, which would involve the NLA and various members of civil society along with the country's information minister.

Another AMDISS recommendation would make the Media Authority Board of Directors answerable to national parliament instead of the executive information minister and President, as the bill is currently worded.

Deputy Justice Minister Paulino Unango questioned whether such a board of directors could be truly independent, when it would constitute part of the South Sudanese government and its members would be on the government's payroll.

"When we talk about independence, we should all ask ourselves, 'am I truly independent?'" he said. "We should not try to misjudge ourselves."

Some members of the NLA urged assembled journalists to place greater trust in what they termed the good intentions of the South Sudanese government and its officials and lawmakers.

"I appeal to people to look at the government as their government," said David Okwier, the chairperson of the South Sudan parliament's Peace and Reconciliation Committee, who represents a Jonglei State constituency in the NLA. "Give them the benefit of doubt as people who actually work for us and apply laws that respect the rights of the people."

But AMDISS chairman Jacob Akol criticized what he called the "closed mind" of some legislators and senior government officials, as reflected in their comments on some amendments put forward by his organization and other journalists attending the proceedings.

"I have no confidence in our ministers that we will pass good media laws," said Mr. Akol, a veteran South Sudanese journalist and author. "The idea of (a media authority board's) independence just doesn't click with them. They see (the board) as an extension of the ministry of information."

The three bills will be debated and amended in the NLA in coming weeks, according to Chairperson Joy Kwaje of the NLA's Committee on Information, Telecommunications and Culture. She estimated that a final vote on the legislation could be held in national parliament as early as the first quarter of 2013.