Leek Mamer | How Red Belt leader ‘resisted rebel recruitment’ in Nairobi

BOR – Leek Mamer Leek, the leader of the Jonglei-based community militia, the Red Belt Movement, who is also known as “90 Bullet”, claims he resisted an attempt to recruit him into an armed opposition movement while in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, triggering allegations that ultimately saw his group designated a rebel movement by the South Sudanese government in 2025.

Mamer’s account, delivered in a translated monologue from Dinka to English, presents his most detailed version yet of how a trip intended to de-escalate tensions instead became, in his words, the source of a long-running political misunderstanding.

From Mogiri violence to exile fears

Mamer traces the origins of the controversy to an incident in Jonglei State, where Murle youth allegedly raided Bor cattle. In retaliation, Bor youth attacked Murle cattle traders at Mogiri Market as they advanced through Central Equatoria State.

Days later, Mamer says Mading Ngor Akech, a prominent journalist working for government-controlled media, warned him that authorities intended to arrest him over the incident. To allow the situation to calm, Ngor allegedly proposed that Mamer temporarily leave the country.

Trusting the advice, the Red Belt leader agreed to travel to Nairobi, believing the stay would last about a week before he returned to continue what he describes as community protection work.

Alleged recruitment attempt in Nairobi

According to Mamer, the situation changed five days after arriving in Nairobi. He alleges that Ngor told him he would not be allowed to return home and claimed that opposition leaders based in Nairobi wanted to meet him because of his influence and armed following. Mamer claims he rejected the proposal outright.

“I told him I am not involved in government politics,” he states. “My only work is protecting our people from Murle attacks—killings, cattle raids, and child abductions.”

He insists he made it clear that he had no grievance with the government and no intention of joining any rebel movement. Mamer says he contacted the late Thon Kuany, who also rejected the idea and reaffirmed that recruitment into opposition ranks had never been the purpose of the trip.

Following the disagreement, he claims Ngor returned to South Sudan, leaving him stranded in Nairobi until hotel management evicted them over unpaid bills. He says his brother later intervened, paid the costs, and facilitated their return.

From refusal to rebellion accusations

Back home, Mamer alleges that Mading reported him to senior figures, including the late Thon Kuany’s father, Kuai Ajak, and Michael Makuei Lueth, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, accusing him of joining a rebel group and meeting opposition leaders in Nairobi.

He says these claims later spread within his own community. He recounts that Thiik Thiik Mayardit, the former Deputy Mayor of Juba City Council, contacted him, citing accusations that he was rebelling against the government.

In an attempt to resolve the issue, Mamer claims Thiik proposed formalising the Red Belt as a community police force under government recognition—a proposal he says he accepted. However, Mamer claims the allegations resurfaced, eventually culminating in the Red Belt being officially declared a rebel movement.

Throughout the video, he maintains that he has never fought the government and never intends to do so.

“The government is our father,” he says. “If your father beats you, you run away—even if you are strong enough to fight back. You run away because you do not want to fight your father.”

Mading Ngor rejects claims, accuses Mamer of rebellion

In a sharply worded response, Mading Ngor Akech rejected Mamer’s account, dismissing the video as false and accusing the Red Belt leader of attempting to deflect responsibility for violence linked to his forces.

In a written statement, Mading described Mamer as “a rebel” and accused him of deliberately misleading the public. He questioned how Leek acquired smartphones and hundreds of Red Belt uniforms in Northern Uganda’s city of Gulu in early 2025, asking whether he himself had facilitated that trip—an assertion he denies.

Ngor further challenged Mamer to disclose details of meetings he allegedly held with “prominent politicians” in Nairobi and Kampala, as well as encounters with what he described as “rebel agents” in August 2025.

He also cited several violent incidents he attributes directly to Mmer and the Red Belt, including alleged intimidation of civilians during the opening of Kolmarek Health Centre on June 21, 2025, in the presence of Senior Presidential Advisor Gen. Kuol Manyang and Jonglei Governor Riek Gai Kok.

Ngor further alleged that Red Belt forces later surrounded the residence of then Bor County Commissioner Gai Makhoor Leek, threatened him, raided homes belonging to Aweil traders in Bor, abducted a hotel manager for ransom, and engaged in armed clashes with joint security forces and National Security on September 27, 2025—incidents that reportedly left two people dead and four injured.

“Did I set Leek and the Red Belt against the government?” Ngor asked, denying any role in the confrontations. He also accused Mamer and his supporters in the diaspora of fundraising in his name, a claim he strongly rejected.

Ngor said he would soon issue a more detailed account “in the spirit of full disclosure” and urged the public to refer to recent public statements by Bor leaders for what he called the factual record on the Red Belt.

Competing narratives, unresolved questions

The sharply contrasting accounts from Mamer and Ngor underscore the deflective and skewed narratives surrounding the Red Belt and its role in Jonglei State. While Leek frames himself as a community protector who resisted rebel recruitment in Nairobi, Mading portrays him as an armed insurgent whose actions have repeatedly brought him into violent confrontation with the state.