South Sudan’s presidency said that president Salva Kiir’s decision to ask the new water minister to leave Friday’s cabinet meeting over his bow tie was in accordance with a dress code which cabinet ministers must observe without objection.
Water minister Mabior Garang de Mabior said he was kicked out for wearing a bow tie, then prevented from rejoining the cabinet meeting after changing his bow tie to a neck tie.
“Mabior was told to observe a dress code which forbids bow ties,” said presidential spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny.
Ateny said Mabior was not attending an ordinary gathering but an official function which requires proper dress code, stressing that dressing differently undermines the tradition for public figures.
There was no reason for him to not comply with the dress code when everybody else complied, said Ateny.
The presidential aide explained that Mabior was not permitted to enter the cabinet hall after he left the cabinet hall because protocol does not allow anybody to enter a function after the president had entered.
Meanwhile, Mabior has posted a number of photos and comments on his Facebook page regarding the incident, including a list of famous people who wear bow ties, as well as a picture of his friends wearing bow ties and pictures of prominent South Sudanese politicians wearing bowler hats and brightly-colored suits.
Mabior wrote that he “will wear the preferred tie of Salva Kiir Mayardit for the next meeting and see what will be the next crime of fashion against the regime.”
Photo: Minister of water resources and irrigation Mabior Garang de Mabior wearing a neck tie after being prevented from re-entering the cabinet meeting (Facebook)