March 31, 2014 (Juba) — Salva Kiir Mayardiit, the president of the world’s newest state, South Sudan, promptly convened a meeting in which he cautioned his family members on their publicity. The meeting followed shortly after Manut, his 23 years old son, was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, last week for drunkenness and assaults.
Manut assaulted and injured his sister, Winnie, in their luxurious home on Manyani East Road, Nairobi Kenya, forcing his helpless mother, Ayendit to call Kenyan police for help. Manut was arrested by officers led by Muthangari chief inspector Hannington Kirimo and was to be charged but later released after the family intervened. Manut reported himself to Juba immediately, following his release from the Kenyan custody on Friday, as the Daily Nation reports.
Prompted by the incident, the president has publicly warned the family members and relatives to behave well in public.
“I have always told you to behave in a way that would not create inconveniences to other people, because the way you conduct yourself would be interpreted to mean different things by some people”, Kiir reportedly told his family members on Saturday.
The troubled president, who has issued many concerns over his political image, has again cautioned the relatives that they should be mindful of criticism.
“You have to understand that you would never be alone wherever you go. So be careful with whatever you do”, the president continued
“The real issue would be twisted and politicized”, stressed the president.
Compared to the earlier incidents, in which media was censored and journalists arrested, the president only described the incident as “unfortunate” but wished his family members could be left alone. Despite the assaults, intoxication, cordial arrest and release without charges, the president believes that the family members should “be left to live like other people.”
“It is unfortunate that you would never be left to live like any other persons, which is act of interference with privacy and individual life and the people [media] who do this should know that they are stepping into other people’s life”, the president reportedly stressed.
What the law says:
The transitional constitution put all the citizens on the same line on privacy, however, places like prisons and other national institutions are regarded public, with very limited or no privacy.
The one-sentence article, article 22 of the transitional constitution, states that “the privacy of all persons shall be inviolable; no person shall be subjected to interference with his or her private life, family, home or correspondence, save in accordance with the law.”
The constitution, however, does not spell cases in which privacy can be infringed but incidents that involve security and safety of others are paramount to be served in the expense of privacy.
Public reaction:
Influenced by the current political chaos, negative criticisms circulate social media. The predominant one-line statements include “like son, like father” and “total failure”. Reported by the Sudan Tribune, a senior politician in the ruling party, SPLM, has described the incident as a “total failure”.
“Some people may be struggling to find interpretations of this incident, but for me, it is a total failure on the part of the President to manage his own family, which is a clear reflection on how he is managing the nation,” a senior member of the ruling party (SPLM) said Sunday.
The senior politician believes that a man who cannot control one family of his own, can not control millions of families.
“If you cannot manage your own family, it follows automatically that it won’t be possible managing millions of people with different family members from different ethnic ground”, added the official, who preferred anonymity.
Kiir’s family has been criticized in other events that include the marriage of his daughter to a Ethiopian in 2011. Journalists were arrested for their publications
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