July 20th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Martin Elia Lomoro, has been criticized and accused of acting as if he is the head of the regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
The criticism, which also included the while South Sudanese government came after the Minister reportedly wrote to the Egyptian President, Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi who was on a state visit to the Sudanese capital Khartoum asking him to help Khartoum resolve the outstanding issues between the parties.
The minister reportedly sent a copy of the letter to the Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, and the Sudanese President Field Marshal Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir who is hosting the talks.
In a statement on Thursday, the same day the minister wrote to the Egyptian leader, Luka Biong Deng, a government critic and a South Sudan academic, criticized the way South Sudan is handing diplomacy.
“I have never seen such diplomatic ethics in my life. Even the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs can not address directly heads of state. Secondly, how on earth a minister from another country asking a president of another country to assist another country as if Khartoum is not capable of seeking assistance directly from Egypt,” Luka Biong Deng, the former head of the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba wrote in a short note seen by the Nyamilepedia on Thursday.
The intellectual further accused the minister of acting as if he is the head of the regional bloc, the IGAD.
“Thirdly, Minister Martin acts as if he is the chair of IGAD. Finally, it seems the peace mediation for our country is on sale and I am sure after surrendering oil to Khartoum, the Nile Waters will be the other resource to be on sale to keep Juba in power,” Biong further wrote.
