By Paul Jimbo
It was on Friday 18th March 2011 when the ugly and greedy face of death snatched the life of South Sudanese seasoned journalist Apollonia Mathia. And as fate would have it a jovial Apollonia came face to face with death following a grisly road accident that involved a truck and the motorcycle she rode on.
The incident happened shortly after Apollonia left the Association of Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS), whose premises are located in Juba Hai Malakia, along the busy Customs-Juba highway. She was headed to her place of work located at the World Bank’s premises along Ministries Road in Juba.
Apollonia, according to eye witnesses, met her death after a truck lost control, veered of the road and crashed into the motorcycle that was ridden by her son Peter. The son however cheated death by a whisker though with serious injuries. Apollonia was one of the leading figures in Southern Sudan’s media; she served as an editor in various media houses and was instrumental in founding the Union of Journalists of Southern Sudan (UJOSS). At the time of her death, Apollonia was the Executive Director of the Association of Media Women in Southern Sudan (AMWISS) besides working at South Sudan’s World Bank Micro-finance investment department.
“She died on the spot, we were all shocked, we cannot come to terms with what actually happened”, said Lilly Nelson, AMWISS treasurer who worked very closely with Apollonia.
Following her death, messages of condolences started pouring in with UJOSS Chairperson Oliver Modi saying, “Working tirelessly as Journalist in Sudan during the time of the Khartoum regime, Apollonia as a female journalist was able to demonstrate her journalistic skills without fear to report on the political, economic and social life of the people of Southern Sudan”.
The UJOSS Chairman added, “She contributed as a founding member of UJOSS and later established AMWISS in Juba with the aim of encouraging South Sudanese women to join the journalism profession and be active. Her work and vision will never be forgotten by the UNION”.
Veteran journalist Richard Ruati said, “her memorable moment with me was when we had gone to Juba Raha to meet some politicians for a story. I was shocked to learn about her death from a fellow journalist who went to the accident scene.”
Apollonia worked closely with Media Diversity Institute (MDI) staff and the entire UJOSS executive body. According to MDI’s Tim Williams, Apollonia’s death is a great loss to the entire media fraternity in Southern Sudan and the world over. “Apollonia’s passing is a great loss to us and the country as a whole and to me, who has learned a lot form her and still needed her help”, Tim added. He described the late Apollonia as “a rock of Sudanese journalism”, who doubled up as a determined woman journalist, and had a clear vision for the role of women in the future state of Southern Sudan.
UJOSS founder member Edward Ladu Terso said that Apollonia’s demise had left a vacuum where there had been a journalist and activist who respected women’s rights and who sought to put to an end to lack of representation of women in media.
MDI’s Executive Director, Milica Pesic, said, “We are deeply saddened by the death of Apollonia Mathia. MDI had the honour of meeting her and even working with her on several occasions, the last one being when she kindly contributed to The People’s Voice’s roundtable organized by our partner UJOSS last November in Juba.” Milica added, “We appreciate enormously what she has done with her sisters from AMWISS – for the women of South Sudan, for journalism in South Sudan and for the country as a whole”. Milica said that that she had nothing but admiration for woman like Apollonia who were like the engines of their societies, the beacons of their gender and a huge inspiration for all. “When I met Apollonia, what struck me was what a modest and dignified lady she was. She did not speak a lot but, each word she put forward came out of her personal and professional experience, her wisdom, and her passion for journalism and the people of South Sudan. It would be great if UJOSS could establish an award to immortalise her needs and her name”, Milica commented.
MDI’s Juba office, through their Project Coordinator, Paul Jimbo, described the late Apollonia as a beacon of hope and a woman who defied all the odds to weather the media turbulence in a post conflict region such as Southern Sudan. “She stood for a free and independent media, she sought to have full representation of female voices in the media, she sought to use the media as a tool to further gender equality and even lobbied for more women in the media”, said Jimbo.
