Sudan anti-corruption committee leader Wajdi Saleh’s home attacked

On Wednesday evening, a group of armed people in civilian clothes tried to storm the home of Wajdi Saleh, who was the head of the now-dissolved Empowerment Removal Committee* (ERC), a leading member of the Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC) and the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, and an outspoken opponent of the ousted Al Bashir regime.

Saleh, who is also a supporter of the dismantlement of the ousted Al Bashir regime, told Radio Dabanga that the gunmen tried to break into the house by force and smashed the light bulbs and surveillance cameras. He explained that they attempted to break the door of the house for a long period of time but failed.

After the break-in attempt, the gunmen withdrew to a location close to the house and stayed there for a long time before finally leaving.

Saleh expressed his astonishment that no security forces, police, or other authority of the jurisdiction had arrived at the house to investigate the incident, despite the fact that it had been published in the media since the early hours of Thursday morning

Less than two weeks ago, Saleh called for the restructuring of the military and security apparatus to ‘purify’ it from the remnants of the former regime who still hold a lot of power. He has also been an outspoken opponent of the coup led by Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Commander Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, who is also the Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council.

Saleh was arrested earlier this year along with two other ERC members and was detained for more than two and a half months in a move that was seen by many as an attempt to silence political dissent after the October 25 military coup.

* The full name of the committee is the Committee for Dismantling the June 30 1989 Regime, Removal of Empowerment and Corruption, and Recovering Public Funds. It was established by the government of Abdallah Hamdok at the end of 2019 with the aim to purge Sudan of the remnants of the Al Bashir regime. Empowerment (tamkin) is the term with which the ousted government of Omar Al Bashir supported its affiliates by granting them far-going privileges, including government functions, the setting-up of various companies, and tax exemptions.