Fact-check: Journalist denies saying on the radio that he suggested firing a Vice President

A South Sudanese journalist based in Australia  said he didn’t call for the firing of the South Sudanese Vice President Dr. James Wani Igga during his radio broadcast in Australia. 

Writer: Ghai Aketch

On monday a social  media page published that Ajak Deng Chiengkou announced in his radio  broadcast that the South Sudanese Vice President for Economic Cluster Dr. James Wani Igga should be fired from his position.

The Facebook page, Voice of Juba, alleged that Ajak accused Vice President Dr. Igga for instigating attacks on the Bor community where he (Ajak) comes from.

“Australian based Popular journalist Ajak Deng Chiengkou has accused Vice President Wani Igga and former Juba Mayor Kalisto of being behind the recent attacks on Bor cattle keepers in Mangala along the Bor road.” The post claims. 

“Ajak was heard saying in one of his live broadcasts that Wani Igga should be fired if he is involved in such deadly plots against South Sudanese citizens.” The post reads. 

Ajak Deng Chiengkou is a South Sudanese journalist based in Australia. He works for SBS Radio in Australia where he hosts the SBS Dinka segment in the Dinka dialect.

However, when contacted via his official  Facebook page to confirm the authenticity of the allegation, Ajak told 211 Check  that he didn’t broadcast such information.

“It came to my attention today that Voice of Juba, a page run by two administrators in Uganda and Kenya, had posted a false story about me calling for the resignation of Vice President Wani and the former Mayor. There is a need for an indication of where they got the information.” Ajak said in a messenger reply to 211 Check. 

He later posted on his Facebook page that the information is not authentic.

Conclusion:

The Facebook page claiming Ajak called for the firing of the Vice President didn’t mention the date such information was broadcast. Moreover, it has not appeared in any mainstream media. 

The journalist  said he didn’t discuss the communal conflict on the  radio. 211 Check also listened  to the live streamed podcasts but couldn’t  come across the allegation. Therefore, we conclude that the claim is false.  

This fact-check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.