Days after South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit was caught peeing in his pants in full public view, reports have surfaced stating that the journalist who captured the video died by suicide. Several reports have claimed that the African reporters who witnessed the event have gone missing.
Mayardit Suffering from Urinary Tract Infection
The embarrassing incident took place during a live television public event in the south African country. The 71-year-old president was seen wearing a grey colored suit with his trademark black Stetson hat. As the band starts playing the national anthem, Mayardit is seen placing his right hand on his heart.
Seconds later his trousers start darkening with pee coming down. The urine is seen trickling out of his trousers on the tarmac below. The embarrassed President is seen looking downwards but refuses to move. The camera then pans towards others gathered at the event giving shocked looks.
According to Sahara Reporters, the President, who was inaugurating a road project when the incident happened, is believed to be suffering from urinary tract infection.
Speaking to Daily Post.ng former federal lawmaker, Shehu Sani said that the embarrassing incident could have been a result of either a "urinary sickness or an extreme act of patriotism; refusal to excuse himself while the national anthem was being played."
Speculations on Social Media
Three days after the incident went viral, a social media post claimed that the cameraman who recorded the incident committed suicide.
The viral post claimed that in a suicide note left on his table, the deceased blames his friend who shared the video with a former photographer who lost his job in a bitter way. The deceased reportedly listed the names of people who deliberately escalated the video and blamed himself for negligence for showing it to a friend, as per the post.
Meanwhile several African news outlets even went on to claim that the reporters who were present at the event have gone missing one by one. African News Agency reported that in a tweet, Bukyana Julius, an East Africa Legislative Assembly former candidate and former journalist from Kenya made the startling revelations. "BREAKING NEWS: All journalists that covered the state event where the @SouthSudanGov president Salva Kir wetted his pants are missing one by one and some found dead. JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME," read the tweet.
Meanwhile debunking the viral speculations, the Union of Journalists of South Sudan issued a statement. "UJOSS has come across messages circulating on various social media platforms alleging that a number of south Sudanese journalists have been arrested. Ufoss, therefore, would like to make it abundantly clear that as per our records, at the moment, there is no journalist that has been arrested and no journalist is missing," the statement from the union's President Oyet Patrick Charles read.
