Day: September 22, 2021

The failed coup indicates the need to reform the security sector and the army said Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok on Tuesday.

The call came after the end of the aborted coup and the arrest of 21 senior officers in the Sudanese army mainly from the Armoured Corps and the Airborne Forces.

In a speech in the morning, Hamdok stated that the coup attempt was orchestrated by elements inside and outside the armed forces affiliated with the former regime.

He went further to say that the failed attempt was preceded by preparations including the insecurity in the cities, the exploitation of the eastern Sudan crisis, attempts to block national roads, closure of maritime ports, stoppage of oil production, and campaigning against his civilian government.

“The coup which is a manifestation of the national crisis that we referred to in the Prime Minister’s initiative (The Way Forward), clearly indicates the need to reform the security and military apparatus,” he emphasized.

Hamdok was obviously pointing to the continued presence of Islamist officers in the army that al-Burhan refuses to purge stressing the need to maintain the unity and cohesion of the military institution.

His statement about the need to get rid of the Islamists element in the army was shared by different groups of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).

Hamdok statement about the need to get rid of the Islamists elements in the army was shared by different Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC)

Wajdi Saleh, a member of the Empowerment Removal Committee repeated calls to purge the military and security agencies from the Islamists in order to mitigate the risk of coups d’état and to protect the transition.

In July 2019, high ranking Islamist officers in the Sudanese army sought to seize power but their attempt was foiled. The failed coup pushed the Transitional Military Council to accept to share power with the civilian forces in August.

Military Analyst and former general Hanafi Abdallah pointed out that the attempt was limited as it only involved elements in the Armoured Corps and the Airborne Forces. He added that the ongoing investigations would elucidate the political forces behind the coup.

Al-Burhan’s response

Sudan Armed Forces Commander in Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan flanked with General Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti visited the Armoured Corps headquarters in southern Khartoum to praise their courageous efforts to abort the coup attempt.

In his speech to the military, al-Burhan focused on the divisions between the FFC forces and the need for unity to achieve the democratic transition.

He said that the fact the coup was foiled by the army shows the military are the guardians of the country.

“No one can claim that this or that force guarded or protected the country,” he said.

“It is the armed forces that protect the country, as they protect (democratic) change and lead it to its ends”.

“We want to lead this country until the organization of free and fair elections in which the people choose who will rule them,” he stressed.

Also, he pointed out that RSF Commander Hemetti comes with him to show the unity of the security forces.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim in South Sudan, Matthew Hollingworth has strongly condemned the latest attack on a humanitarian convoy in Yei County, Central Equatoria, calling for authorities and communities to ensure the safety of humanitarian personnel delivering assistance to the most vulnerable people in South Sudan.

“I am appalled by the horrific news of yet another act of violence against humanitarians and people serving the community in South Sudan. I want to express our condolences to the family and colleagues of the driver who was killed in Yei County on Friday,” he said in a statement.

On 17 September, the convoy of a World Food Program (WFP) cooperating partner, consisting of seven people in three trucks, was attacked in Mugwo Payam, Yei County. The convey was travelling from Yei to Morobo and carrying 121 metric tons of food supplies destined for livelihoods programming in support of host communities in Morobo County.

The driver of one of the trucks, a South Sudanese citizen, was killed when the unknown gunmen opened fire on the convoy. One person was injured, two were found unharmed and three others are currently missing.

“Humanitarian personnel work tirelessly to deliver assistance to the most vulnerable people in South Sudan, including women, children and the elderly. Attacking them as they carry out their work is unacceptable and has to stop. I call on all parties to respect, protect and enable those organizations and personnel working to provide humanitarian assistance to the citizens of South Sudan,” explained Hollingworth.

Humanitarian access remains challenging across South Sudan with a spike of violence against humanitarian personnel and assets reported this year. Since March, aid workers, people serving the community, and assets have been ambushed or attacked in at least eight of the ten states in the country. The attacks led to the suspension of humanitarian activities and the relocation of workers.

“These attacks constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law. The trend of increased violence against humanitarians cannot continue. Our thoughts are now with the three people still missing. We hope that they will soon be safely back with their families,” stressed Hollingworth.

A total of 126 humanitarians, mostly South Sudanese, have lost their lives while providing critical assistance to people across the country since the conflict broke out in late 2013.

Source: Sudan Tribune

A prominent South Sudanese politician has said it was time to not beat around the bush, but the buck of the devastating conflict in the country stopped at the steps of Unity and Warrap states.

“Why go around beating the bush. Let it be clear, straight, and simple, the war of 15th December 2013, which lasted for five years, has extremely divided South Sudanese into two distinctive categories: ethnically and politically. This division don’t beat around the bush was/is led by Warrap and unity states, the homes of President Salva Kiir Mayardit and First Vice President Riek Machar Teny respectively”, said Aldo Deng Akuei, former deputy minister in the Sudanese government and now a member of p council of state.

Akuei, himself a member of the Dinka Council of Elders, an influential group of elders who stood by the side of the government and president Salva Kiir during the war, said competition over positions and resources by people who hails from these states was the cause of the conflict with which the country is grappling to find a lasting solution.

“In these two states, government’s civil servants, security officers, politicians, and businessmen, are intensively fighting one another over positions and money in their states and at the national government’s level, thus causing intended blackmails to the two national leaders, to favor them in expense of the whole citizenry of the country. The fighting for favorites by citizens of these two states has affected the country adversely”, said Akuei.

He revealed in a statement dated 18/9/2021 that “Two uncomfortable relationships, exemplarily, could be cited to have occurred among Nhial Deng Nhial, Mayik Ayii Deng, Lual Achuil Lual and Garang Mabiordit of Warrap state, and on other hand, Riek Machar himself, Taban Deng Gai and Dr. Joseph Monytuil of Unity state.

Akuei invited members of the public to make comments and question, saying talking freely was the only the country would come out of the ailments to which it has been thrown.

“In my opinion, the truth and reconciliation commission, once formed, should begin from these two states before it could move to national level to reconcile individual politicians and the national leaders on peace and harmony. The public and I are definitively concerned. I, therefore, and without ill intention or prejudice, hereby, invite comments and questions,” he stressed.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Mabior Garang de Mabior, son of South Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) has ruled out war as an option for regime change, proposing that dialogue be held with the armed opposition (SPLM-IO) splinter faction fighting in the Magenis area of Upper Nile state.

“After seven years of imposing the agenda of regime change and senseless violence on our civil population, those who hijacked our Movement and the peace process have failed to deliver peace. Therefore, regime change is no longer a viable option. It is too costly”, wrote Mabior in an op-ed co-authored with Manasseh Zindo.

He explained that the call for regime change has retarded the development of struggle, both in 2013 and 2016, arguing it should not be allowed to happen again.

“We must be honest in our quest for and implementation of the negotiated settlement to achieve fundamental change in our society without bloodshed. The Kit-Gwang Declaration represents revolutionary corrections in our struggle for self-reliance, based on the principle of Self-Determination”, explained Mabior.

The objective of the group, according to him, was to champion reforms in the security sector because institutional reforms were necessary due to the proliferation of paramilitary forces loyal to individual politicians and other leaders.

“It is of paramount importance that all the forces that fought during the war of independence are unified into national organized forces – there is need for order,” Mabior wrote.

However, this honorable call was hijacked and turned into an agenda for regime change by unscrupulous politicians. When the Lou Nuer White army were marching on Juba – in response to the massacre of predominantly Nuer civilians – some politicians saw this as an opportunity to impose their agenda for regime change on our Movement for reforms, and a deadly power struggle ensued”, he said.

He called for public support in all social and political affiliations to subscribe to the Kit-Gwang Declaration, saying “it is not a political party; the call of the Kit-Gwang Declaration is expressly for the implementation of security arrangements”.

“We further call on all the military, paramilitary, and civil defense forces to embrace the Principles in the Kit-Gwang Declaration. All these troops have a stake in our hard-won freedom as many fought side-by-side during the Independence war. We are not enemies; thus, the Kit-Gwang Declaration should not be viewed with suspicion by any group,” he further wrote.

“The implementation of security arrangements is in all our interests as the only way to ensure political stability and socio-economic development in our land”, he added.

Last month, forces loyal to Vice President Riek Machar and a splinter group clashed in South Sudan, with each claiming to have killed dozens of soldiers from the other side. The clashes erupted after rival military leaders of the SPLM/A-IO announced on that Machar had been ousted as head of his party and its armed forces.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The Sudanese army said no politicians have been arrested in connection with the failed coup attempt.

The Sudanese army spokesman Brig-Gen Tahir Abu Haja that 21 senior officers, and a number of non-commissioned officers and soldiers, were arrested.

Also, he added that search operations are underway to arrest the rest of the military involved in the aborted coup.

For his part, Commander of the Ground Forces, Lt-Gen Essam al-Din Karrar, stated that the coup attempt took place in the Armoured Corps and the Airborne Forces as well other units without further details.

He further confirmed that the authors of the coup surrendered themselves or were arrested without any resistance, adding that only one retired general was among the plotters with the others are still in service.

He emphasized that the army did not arrest any civilians or politicians involved in the attempt.

“Also, the ongoing investigations did not indicate until now any political affiliation for the detained military,” he further said.

The Government Spokesman and Minister of Information Hamza Balloul stated that civilians were involved in the foiled coup adding they are members of the former regime.

Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok underscored the need to clear the military institution from the Islamists that al-Burhan refuses to sack from the army.

Source: Sudan Tribune