Redbelt Saga and the Politics of Rebellion in South Sudan
Redbelt Saga
Vigilantes and Power Games: The Redbelt Saga in Jonglei Politics
By PaanLuel Wël, Juba, South Sudan
Wednesday, 31 December 2025 (PW) — 2025 is refusing to go quietly into the dustbin of history. December dredged up long-buried August ghosts through the Thomas Makorou saga; and as if that were not enough, 2025 is dragging its unfinished business into 2026 with the Redbelt Saga.
The “National Declaration” by Gen. Deng-Wek has already been overtaken and effectively buried by a more pressing question: whose account should the public believe, vigilante youth leader Leek Mamer Leek’s or journalist Mading Ngor Akech Akwai’s?
At its core, the Redbelt Saga is an inter-communal feud among Bor Dinka politicians, with the state itself conscripted to back one camp while the opposing camp has mobilised the Redbelt, a vigilante youth group formed in the aftermath of the Nyolo massacre.
This feud mirrors the long-running power struggles among the Twic Dinka elites except Hon. Deng Dau Malek, much to his credit or failure, did not recruit national security forces to hunt down his political rivals, nor did his political opponents mobilise Mabaach youth to intimidate their political rivals.
Whether Mading Ngor ends up joining Akol Khoor and Bol Mel in the Blue House, or Leek Mamer ends up joining Kherubino Wol Agok, would constitute an immeasurable loss, not only to Bor Dinka or Jonglei State, but to the nation as a whole.
The only responsible course of action is for the senior politicians who have recruited both the vigilante youth group and the national security organs to “bëkkë piu tïng thäär” to step back, de-escalate, and ensure both the safety of Leek Mamer and the freedom of Mading Ngor. The question of who is broadcasting the truth should be secondary.
To our cousins on the West Bank, you are being played. This is an internal Bor Dinka affair in which you are merely being used as a convenient instrument. Thiik Thiik Machar, our in-law, of all people, should better understand the characters and dynamics at play on the East Bank.
This Redbelt experiment was attempted before, during the Mabaach Youth incursion into Bheer, and it failed to gain traction, precisely because the feuding Twic Dinka political leaders knew where the line had to be drawn.
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