From Relic to Relevance: Why South Sudan Must Overhaul the Ministry of Information, and Communications
Information Minister Michael Makwei Lueth, being chatty with opposition leader, Lam Akol Ajawin, a the Adis Ababa Revitalization Forum
By Mabor D. Maker, Juba, South Sudan
Saturday, 30 August 2025 (PW) — As a country, it is high time that we had an honest conversation about the Ministry of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services. If we are really being honest with ourselves, we would have admitted by now that, despite its forward-leaning name, the Ministry is woefully stuck in the past. What we have now is more of a relic than a driver of progress in a country that desperately needs the power of digitalization to propel its economy forward. When the whole world is talking blockchain and AI, our ministry is still stuck in the land of Gmail. Let that sink in.
What is more concerning is how the current Minister, Michael Makwei Lueth, operates more like the official government spokesman and less like a minister of communication technology. And since this appears to be his actual primary role, perhaps South Sudan needs to rethink his portfolio entirely. Why not just appoint him officially as the Government Spokesman a role he is already playing anyway and place someone with genuine technical know-how, experience, and vision to be in charge of the ministry itself?
A ministry that should be shaping digital policy, driving innovation in South Sudan, ensuring cyber security, building data infrastructure, and modernising communications cannot be left to function as nothing more than a press desk or government mouthpiece. What should be one of the most strategically vital ministries in this digital era is instead weighed down by archaic systems, outdated practices, and a mismatch of roles.
And I must reiterate the glaring, overhanging embarrassment that most of South Sudan’s government agencies/bodies still rely on Gmail for official communication. Yes, you read that right Gmail. A free email service that millions of individuals use for personal chats and shopping receipts. Sensitive government documents are passed around with zero encryption, zero state-owned infrastructure, and zero consideration about digital security. No wonder confidential memos and documents keep leaking. This is not just a minor issue it speaks to a structural failure that exposes the entire state to unnecessary risks and weakens trust in government institutions. Even the Deputy Minister of ICT and Postal Services, David Yau Yau, has publicly warned that this practice “compromises the integrity of government communications” and urged a shift toward “secure, official email systems.”
This comes against a backdrop of a broader ICT challenge nationally where South Sudan’s ICT landscape is characterised by extremely low internet penetration (only around 8% in 2021), especially outside Juba and minimal ICT infrastructure, with most of the rural population offline or dependent on expensive, unreliable services. Moreover, as of 2025, rural digital connectivity remains severely limited some parts of the country are only just seeing the installation of fibre optic lines following partnerships with Digitel and Starlink. This speaks to wider national apathy surrounding digitalisation.
From where I stand, the Ministry needs a complete overhaul, and it needs it NOW. What this means is that: The ministry must immediately develop a proper, official government email and communications system with secure servers, owned and controlled by the state; the ministry needs to recruit and train a new generation of progressive professionals with actual expertise in digital governance and economy management, ICT policy, and cybersecurity; the ministry needs to formulate clear strategies and policies to position South Sudan as part of the global digital economy rather than letting the country lag further behind, and the ministry needs to modernise public information systems so that they can actually serve citizens and not just recycle government press statements.
What is without dispute is that we can no longer operate as if digital governance and economy are some luxuries that are only reserved for advanced nations it is literally the very backbone of governance, trade, and national security in any 21st century country. A nation’s digital foundation essentially determines its competitiveness in today’s global economy. South Sudan can therefore not afford to be left behind while the rest of the world runs on artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and secure e-governance platforms.
It is time for bold leadership, and this starts with our current leaders first admitting that the Ministry of Information, Communication technology and Postal Services needs to be transformed from an archaic mouthpiece into a modern, forward-looking engine of national development. Is the leadership at the Ministry up to task? Is the nation’s top leadership going to take the bull by its horns and lead the digital revolution in South Sudan? Will we, as a people, be bold enough to put our leaders to task and demand for a transformation in the ministry? I can only hope so.
If South Sudan is truly serious about its future, the overhaul would start NOW not tomorrow, not next year, but today because the price of delay is irrelevance, obsolescence, and stagnation. A price too high to pay.
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