Josephine Napwon, former Minister of Environment and Forestry. [Photo: Courtesy]JUBA — South Sudan’s former Minister of Environment and Forestry, Josephine Napwon, publicly expressed disappointment over the protocol used during the Jubek Day celebration in Juba after she was introduced simply as a “former minister” by Central Equatoria State Deputy Governor Paulino Lukudu.
Speaking before guests at the Bari Community Centre during the annual cultural event honouring Chief Jubek, Napwon criticised what she described as a failure by public officials to observe official state protocol, saying such mistakes were “embarrassing and humiliating.”
“I am not just a former minister as the Hon. Deputy Governor has put it,” Napwon said. “So, we need to look into our protocols.”
She urged government officials responsible for public events to familiarise themselves with the country’s protocol guidelines by consulting the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
“If we don’t know our protocols, go to the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and get a booklet and see where you fit and where each one of us fits,” she said.
“Because sometimes it’s so embarrassing and humiliating. Some of us contributed to this country. We are not just former ministers, but we know what we did; you have to take that,” she added as Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lumuro looks on.
Napwon also used the occasion to remind members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) of her senior position within the party, saying she currently serves as a member of the SPLM Political Bureau.
“I am also a member of the Political Bureau of SPLM, and the SPLM members who are here, no one is senior to me; you have to know that,” she declared.
Her remarks came immediately after Deputy Governor Lukudu introduced dignitaries attending the Jubek Day celebrations, an annual cultural festival organised by the Bari community on July 8 to commemorate Chief Jubek, the revered 19th-century leader widely regarded as the founding figure of the Bari people. The celebration is held on the eve of South Sudan’s Independence Day and commemorates the legacy of the leader after whom the capital, Juba, is named.
The deputy governor did not immediately respond to Napwon’s remarks during the event.
Napwon’s intervention briefly shifted attention from the cultural celebrations to the issue of state protocol, underscoring the importance that senior political figures continue to attach to official recognition of their offices and contributions to South Sudan’s political history.
