By Dak Buoth Riek-Gaak,
May 15, 2022 — On 22nd April, 2022, a rare message reached my phone that the third President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki was no more. I ignored and proceeded with what I was doing. I thought it was normal lies always peddled by social media users. But upon ascertaining later that he actually passed on, I remember a joke I made some time back.
On 1st June 2021, we drove to Nyeri town for a private marriage event of the former Chairman of the South Sudan Students’ Association in Kenya. In the evening, as we were heading back to Nairobi city county, we pass by the nearby retirement home of the Late President Mwai Kibaki. When we approached one of his gates, I jokingly said to the guys with me in the vehicle that, we should alight and say hello to President Kibaki. We laughed as we proceeded with our journey.
If we had managed to see him by any miracle, we would appreciate him for his roles in the attainment of South Sudan Independence in 2011. And of course, we would tell him he was our brother-in-law now that one of our own got married in his neighborhood.
KIBAKI’S FUNERAL
On 30th April 2022, late President Mwai Kibaki’s predecessor, President Uhuru Kenyatta accorded him a state funeral held at Nyayo Stadium. The regional and continental leaders and heads of states thronged Nairobi to pay their last respect on their behalf and that of their people whom President Kibaki served and held dear during his lifetime.
At the funeral, two things made me happy. First, I felt glad that South Sudan President, Salva Kiir attended the funeral gathering. Secondly, I like the fact that he did not address the occasion. In May 2019, when President Kiir gave a speech during Kenya’s National Prayer Day held at Kasarani’s Safari club hotel, he spoke in a way that made South Sudanese unhappy up to date.
POST KIBAKI FUNERAL ANALYSIS
On 4th May 2022, KTN journalist, Debarl Inea invited four panelists, one of whom was South Sudanese national, Dr. Peter Biar Ajak. Mr. Debarl asked Peter Biar why a minister spoke on behalf of President Kiir while he was present at the funeral gathering?
In response, Biar said his informants told him that President Kiir took too much alcohol the previous night. Thus, he woke up with a serious hangover that could not make him address the event. Biar went on to give similar incidents where President Kiir failed to address official meetings due to effects of alcohol.
Firstly, in 2012, when President Kiir met with President Obama, Biar said he arrived late in the meeting while very drunk, and that the meeting ended up in an unexpected way.
Secondly, in 2014, at Malabo in Equatorial Guinea during the African Union submission, Biar avers that President Kiir spent three days in a hotel drinking alcohol to an extent that they forgot and failed to attend the African union meeting there.
Thirdly, Dr. Biar’s last claim which most South Sudanese are privy to, was that, certain clique that surrounded President Kiir often takes advantage when he is drunk by letting him sign presidential decrees to sack some government officials. He added that as of now, President Kiir is in serious incapacitation and that he is unable to discharge his constitutional duties.
In reply, Debarl added that, if this is the situation then President Kiir may need rehabilitation if he is alcoholic. Moreover, one of the panelists who commented after Biar said in apparent reference to President Kiir, that if one is not allowed to drive while drunk, one should not be allowed to drive the country while drunk.
POST FUNERAL ANALYSIS REACTIONS
On 5th May 2022, a day after the KTN interview, Kenyan Ambassador to South Sudan Gen. Samuel Nandwa was summoned and served with a protest letter by the South Sudan Foreign Affairs ministry in Juba over Biar’s remarks.
In his statement to the media after receiving the letter, Ambassador Nandwa said he forwarded the protest letter to the Kenya media regulatory body for appropriate action.
On 9th May, 2022, the standard media group or KTN News’ editor in chief, Ochieng Rapuro sent an apology letter to President Kiir through South Sudan Ambassador to Kenya Chol Ajongo.
On 12th May, 2022, Kenya government through her Envoy to South Sudan, Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka delivered a verbal apology to President Kiir at State house.
In the two-page apology letter titled ‘‘apology for inaccurate & unfortunate remarks made about you in our television channel’’, Editor Ochieng did not condemn the utterances of Dr. Peter Biar. In the letter, he keeps stating that Biar’s remarks were unfortunate and unethical.
Truth be told, if the utterances by Dr. Peter Biar were wrong then the statements by KTN News’ chief editor, Ochieng and by extension the Kenya government are wrong too, because they are deceptive. Why did he apologize for an act that he did not condemn in the first place?
I’m pretty sure the reason he did not make any condemnation of the same is because he think Biar’s comments are not wrong but a bitter truth. If the editor was sincere, he would have said that, Peter Biar will be barred from speaking in KTN news or that an action will be taken against the host journalist, Mr Debarl. But because Debarl and Biar did not violated any law, Mr. Ochieng opted to play with words in the name of giving an apology.
In essence, the editor’s apology was aimed at calming down the President’s temper so as to prevent KTN News from being shut and shunned in South Sudan.
Similarly, the Kenya government acted smartly by making sure that they send a mere political Envoy and not a constitutional post holder like the Kenyan Ambassador and Foreign Affairs Minister. They both acted politically, because they know in politics, you do not need to be right. You just need to persuade the other party by all means possible.
The deceptive apologies by the Kenya government and standard media’s editor are more hurting to the people of South Sudan. The relationship between the sisterly countries of Kenya and South Sudan should not be based on deception.
It was originally based on Pan African ideals and shared cultural values and similarities of its people. With these deceptive apologies, Kenya acted in a manner that demeaned its stature as democratic country in our East African region. Kenya and standard media could have handled this matter in an extraordinary way that demonstrates their passion for truth and the rule of law.
DEFAMATION
In any case, if this matter is moved away from the court of public opinion to the court of law, it will be a defamation case. And in defamation law, truth is the absolute defense.
One of the old human rights texts known as ‘the declaration of the rights of man and citizen’ says in section eleven that ‘‘The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man’’.
I believe that Dr. Peter Biar Ajak did not violate any domestic or international law or statute by expressing his opinion about his government and President. Dr. Biar was speaking within the confines of the law. Further, the office and the person of the president is a public entity that every citizen has a right to comment on at any point.
My free advice to the complainant/s is that, if the South Sudan government thinks the claims by Biar are false and defamatory, what they need to do is to write a factual statement denying the three claims. The South Sudan Government should just respond to facts and not mere media houses.
For instance, they can disapprove of Biar’s claims against President Kiir by either stating that he did not go to Malabo or that the President did attend the African union summit in Malabo Equatorial Guinea in 2014. In addition to Biar’s views, I think the salient reason why President Kiir did not speak at Kibaki’s funeral was because he was shy and afraid.
An old adage says the guiltiest ones are always afraid. In his early years, President General Salva Kiir was very meticulous and articulate in his public speeches. However, due to the deteriorating challenges in South Sudan, he started having problems in his public addresses simply because he realized that he lost public confidence and moral authority by virtue that the country is on the path of ruination and not revitalization.
The Writer is the Chairman of Liech Community Association in Kenya, the views expressed here are his own, and he can be reached for comments via eligodakb@yahoo.com
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