when I arrived at the airport, he never came to receive me. I went straight to his office and he started:’Oh, you know, I was looking for a chairlady to receive you’. What chair lady? I’m your Secretary-General. You are supposed to receive me at the airport. I didn’t come here for any woman. I came for you.’ Establishing those lines is very difficult. Making people understand that you are the boss, that you’re leading them, and that you know what you are doing in the political world is very difficult.
Dr. Ann Itto
JENNIFER JAMES
This reporting is sponsored by the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPAID) as part of a Female Journalists Network project to increase the voices of women in the media. Badru Mulumba is project editorJENNIFER: What inspired you to join politics?
DR.ITTO: I would say that it was by accident because I was an academician. But what really triggered my interest in politics is, you know in the nineties, I was teaching at the University of Juba in Khartoum. I had put my children in one of the Schools. One day my daughter came home crying. I asked her why she was crying. She said she didn’t want to go back to school because in the school they were calling her Sura magululba. That was immediately after Omar eL- Bashir came to power. And they were trying to implement sharia law and all the school girls were supposed to cover themselves with Tharaha. I told my kids that they could put on a hat (cap), but they could never put on a Tharaha — because that was not her culture. So, she was really – you know – she was being bullied by her colleagues. So, now I started thinking: If my daughter is going to be crying and refusing the school because she is different, because her culture is different, how would she grow? How will she turn out when she grows up? And, of course, I also had the opportunity to learn more about the SPLM, the freedom they were fighting for, the transformation they wanted in the country – equality of women and men. I just decided, okay I can’t allow others to fight for me and I am safe here in Khartoum. I decided to join, basically trigged by considering the future of my daughter in a system where there was disrespect for different cultures, where diversity was not considered.
A MAN’S BUSH
Let’s talk about your role-model and what has helped you face challenges?
My mum was my role model. She normally made me feel special among all the children. I was a professor at the University of Juba that was a fulltime career and I taught for many years. And for me then, when I was young, the male students didn’t think a woman could teach at the university of Juba. In fact, they hit on me, thinking that I was a young girl. Some of the students were bigger than myself. That was a bit bad. But I started to draw a line between them and myself. I said to myself, I am a teacher and they are my students – just making this very clear and there was nothing they could do about it. When it comes to politics, I have long experience – over 20 years.
When I decided that I was going to join the moment, the bush was a man’s world .The biggest thing is that I had to leave my children behind because they couldn’t go to the war front. And it is not like you can choose to go anytime you wanted to see your children. If there is something to be done, you couldn’t go. For the men, it was okay because they would leave their children with their mothers. For me I had to find an employee who could take care of them and there were no telephones then. It was so difficult. The worst thing for me when finally I got permission to come home was, I wouldn’t even know whether my children were alive or whether one had done something. There was totally, you know, three months, four months between visits. You wouldn’t know when. Then you come home and knock the gate. For me, that was the most frightening – just nocking the gate. You would be thinking that, may be, when they open the door, they would say, this child is dead or something. It was the most curious thing for me – being away for a long time and having to come back and then you don’t know. Then the kids get angry because I would stay two days, three days, and the things they used to ask, instead of how are you, mama, they would say: When are you leaving? No ‘good morning’ and ‘how are you’. So it is really difficult if you don’t have the commitment, if you don’t know why you are doing it. It is really very tough, but of course if you don’t do this you will be treated differently.
You cannot compete in a man’s world. Each time you say, I’m going to see my children, I’m going to do this and I’m going to do that, they don’t understand those excuses. They treat you like themselves who have less responsibility in the house than you do. So to me that was very difficult.
DRAWING THE LINE
After the bush the most difficult was taking this – I should say – gender-based violence. You know very often a lot of men think- even if you’re much better than them- they will make you less than them. So I don’t mean that it is that often, but in all generations, if am dealing with them, it is a problem. For example, one time I went to Aweil. The governor was an SPLM governor. I went to him because there were issues. But when arrived to the airport, he never came to receive me. I went straight to his office and he started:
‘Oh, you know, I was looking for a chairlady to receive you’.
‘What chair lady? I’m your Secretary-General. You are supposed to come to receive me at the airport. I didn’t come here for any woman. I came for you.’
Establishing those lines is very difficult. Making people understand that you are the boss, that you’re leading them, and that you know what you are doing in the political world is very difficult.
UNDERSTANDING THE POLITICAL GAME
But, of course, also if you’re not armed, there’s this harassment. Also, there are weird meeting hours. For example, we used to meet from around 10pm to 4am. You meet the whole night. Then you go home late. If you have a husband and you meet until 1am, 4am, what kind of thinking will be running in his head? If you don’t do that, you would miss a lot of things because decisions are made in those meetings, which are late in the night, and in very hot places, which for some women are not comfortable. But I couldn’t avoid because I was the acting Secretary General. So here is a meeting called and it is not ending. I can’t leave because it is my job. I’m the one who is taking minutes. So, I appear home, like, at 1:00am to 3:00am when everybody is sleeping. Working as a politician, my career requires me to also understand the games that are being played. You need to know how to win over people and to get support from men who will stand by you. You need to have a support team – somebody you know. When you’re tired and when you hear all these things you have to have a few people who are your friends. You go to them and say I have experienced this. You’re saying, it is okay, here is an idea. But you know everybody wants to make your life really difficult. But, of course, it is also something that you must learn.
Despite the challenges I face in politics, I never dream of quitting politics because I have a mission and vision to achieve the common goal of SPLM in the country.
What have been some of your achievements?
I don’t want to say this because somebody else should be the one to say that, but when I was in the secretariat, I was the one who run the 2010 election for SPLM and I was the one who run the referendum. We made sure that the women quarter in the parliament was met – and beyond. I consider those as some of the few things that I really achieved. But in the current parliament, which is the East African Legislative Assembly, we make sure that we speak up and we’re representing South Sudan. You make sure that you’re there all the time. I consider it an achievement setting a standard, but also creating awareness about South Sudan’s capabilities.
This is the first time we have members of parliament in the EALA, but we made sure that they know who South Sudan is, that we’re competent, capable individually, unlike what they think about South Sudan – that we’re not.
What skills have helped you in life to become who you’re today?
First of all, I think the confidence that I have comes from the way I was raised. My parents made me feel special: No matter what happens anywhere, I am not what you think I am. I am really special. I am good. I am strong. I am capable. So that confidence sets the bases. The other thing is being open to learning. I never went to a political school, but you know having a good judgment, being able to learn, listen, and analyze situations is what gives somebody the ability to be in politics. You have to be ready to learn, be analytical, listen well, and relate to others well because in politics, if you cannot coordinate well, if you’re not social, you will not get anywhere.
What do you or what don’t you like the most?
Well, I like honesty. And I like working with people, particularly women. I love to see women smile after conquering an issue that has been disturbing them. I don’t like lies. I don’t like telling lies at all and I don’t like laziness.
Any special advice to women who want be in leadership?
Let them prepare themselves with knowledge and skills before joining politics. There are some trainings on leadership, on politics that build you so that when you go into leadership, you don’t start with failing, but with success. Know that any success comes from an individual’s effort. You have to work for it. If you want to be an MP work for it. If you want be anything you have to work for it; it doesn’t fall from the sky and it involves self-sacrifice. Also, politics are not men’s work. Women, too, can do it in a smart way. I call on women to not fear politics in South Sudan.
