A group of South Sudanese women have petitioned President Salva Kiir Mayardit to remove Ateny Wek Ateny as the Presidential Press Secretary with immediate effect.
The group—which identifies itself as ‘Women and Girls of South Sudan’— accused Mr Ateny of using demeaning words and subjecting them to ‘sexual and gender-based violence’ with impunity. The petition was filed by a woman identified as Riya Yuyada on Wednesday afternoon, in response to a short video clip that purportedly depicted Mr Ateny confessing his undying thirst for beautiful women.
The petition partly read: ‘‘we the women of South Sudan write to you with great indignation and heavy hearts. We call upon your esteemed office to dismiss, with immediate effect, Mr Ateny Wek as the Spokesperson of the Presidency. We ask this following his sexist, demeaning and disrespectful statements towards and about women of the nation, said the women in the petition.
‘‘If I see women, my heart skips a beat! It is worse if I see a beautiful woman passing next to me. That shakes my heart and makes me feel like vomiting. I feel like grabbing her and pulling her away because this thing is in blood,’’ Ateny reportedly said in a recent event.
The petitioners argue that the presidential press secretary has demonstrated beyond doubt that he is unfit to hold a public office.
Thus, they recommend his ouster on grounds that doing so would demonstrate that the government upholds the dignity of women and is committed to appointing individuals of moral standing to the positions of authority.
The petitioners roped in 15 recipients among them the office of the president, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UNWOMEN, IGAD, AU, South Sudanese in the Diaspora, Oxfam and Siha Network.
By the time of publishing this story, over 200 individuals had signed the petition.
‘‘[I] am signing because the government officials are the ones to show youth how to value our women in the country,’’ a petitioner identified as Peter Wol commented. Another one known as Nunu Diana said: ‘‘ [I] am signing because I need a south Sudan free of gender-based violence and where women and girls are treated equally with dignity as enshrined in our Constitution.
The City Review reached out to Mr Ateny for his comment but his mobile phones were off.