South Sudan citizens have been banned from singing the national anthem unless their president, Salva Kiir is present.
This is according to the country’s Information Minister Michael Makuei.
Makuei told AFP that the government has prohibited leaders and institutions to play the anthem whenever they feel like, terming it as an abuse of the national song“For the information of everybody, the national anthem is only meant for the president, in a function only attended by the president, not for everybody,” Makuei said.
The anthem, which was written in 2011 after the nation’s independence is now meant for Salva Kiir in an order passed during a cabinet meeting last week on Friday.
Two groups have however been exempted from the ban; South Sudan embassies which are said to represent the president and schools where the children are learning the national anthem. No one else can sing the song in Kiir’s absence.