Lomuro, also secretary of the peace-oversight High-Level Standing Committee, said at a Saturday press conference that nine out of sixteen counties inhabited by the Nuer community were “hostile” to the government, while seven were “friendly,” triggering public outrage.
Nuer Members of the National Legislative Assembly, the Nuer Leadership Forum, and the Nuer Youth Union issued strongly-worded statements demanding Lomuro’s resignation.
Nuer lawmakers in the Reconstituted Transitional Legislative Assembly accused Lomuro of divisive politics.
“Hon. Martin Elia Lomuro chose to profile the 16 counties inhabited by Nuer People in South Sudan between ‘hostile and friendly’ to the Government of the Republic of South Sudan,” the lawmakers said in a Tuesday statement.
“The Nuer SPLM Members of Parliament consider this categorisation as irresponsible, reckless, and dangerous, not only to Nuer people in South Sudan, but also to the Government of President H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit, who is the chairman of the SPLM. This is a strategy to divide the SPLM,” the statement added.
The lawmakers said the conflict in South Sudan is between armed opposition groups and the government.
“In fact, the ongoing conflict has never been between the Nuer community and South Sudan, as Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro alluded to in his profiling of the Nuer Community. There are conflicts all over our country, including Hon. Martin’s Lainya County (Wonduruba), where hundreds of people were killed recently and thousands displaced,” they said.
Tensions between government forces and armed community militia in Upper Nile have escalated since February, particularly after the killing of SSPDF Nasir brigade commander Maj. Gen. Majur Dak and 28 of his soldiers.
The government has accused the White Army, a predominantly Nuer militia, of being allied with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), led by First Vice President Riek Machar, who is currently detained.
In their Tuesday statement, Nuer lawmakers said Lomuro’s remarks reflect that broader government narrative.
“The historical role of the Nuer leadership throughout the liberation of the country cannot be denied. It is a role that should not be doubted, let alone reduced to a friendly or hostile relationship with the Government,” the statement, read out at a press conference by former SPLM secretary general Peter Lam Both, said.
“As a leadership of the SPLM in the areas where conflict erupted recently, we do not need to emphasize that the Nuer SPLM Parliamentary leadership was instrumental in engaging the White Army Youth Leaders during the crises, particularly in Ulang and Nasir, including the formation of the rescue team which coordinated the rescue and transportation of SSPDF personnel in Upper Nile and Jonglei counties to Juba,” the statement said.
“We demand the immediate withdrawal of such statement by Hon. Elia and the High-Level Standing Committee for the implementation of the R-ARCISS and his relief,” it added.
James Hoth Mai, labor minister and head of the Nuer Leadership Peace Forum, threatened legal action against Lomuro.
“Profiling a group of people is against the RSS laws; therefore, the Nuer Leadership Peace Forum has a right to seek legal advice against Dr. Martin Elia Lumoro,” he said.
Mai also reiterated the call for Kiir to fire Lomuro. “Hon. Martin Elia Lomuro, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, must immediately resign from his two positions. Meanwhile, we humbly appeal to His Excellency the President of the Republic of South Sudan to relieve him from government to give peace a chance.”
In a letter with 20 signatories, the Nuer Youth Union likened Lomuro’s statement to a genocidal pattern, citing examples in Rwanda, Sudan, Rwanda, and Nazi Germany.
The government had sought to clarify the statement. In a Monday press conference, Youth and Sports Minister Joseph Geng Akech defended Lomuro, saying his statement was misinterpreted.
“The reference to the hostile community does not mean the whole community but, as the honourable minister mentioned, this is an organized group that attacked the barracks as you have seen, and of course, this is taken care of under Chapter 5, which calls for reconciliations of our communities,” he said.
Lomuro has not publicly responded to the controversy.
