Charter for formation ‘parallel govt’ in Sudan signed in Nairobi

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu, 22 smaller rebel movements, and political and civil society groups signed the founding charter for a parallel Sudanese government in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Saturday evening. The move has raised sharp criticism.

The Sudan Founding Alliance Charter was signed by Joseph Tekke for the SPLM-N El Hilu, Abdelrahim Dagalo, deputy commander of the RSF, for the paramilitary group warring the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023, Maj Gen Fadlallah Burma for the National Umma Party, and Ibrahim El Mirghani for the mainstream Democratic Unionist Party.

The Sudan Revolutionary Front alliance of smaller rebel movements, chaired by El Hadi Idris and civil society representatives, among them Haroun Medikheir for the United Civilian Forces alliance (Gamam), Alaa Nugud for the Trade Unions Coordination and Professionals Association, and Hamid Ali Nour for the civil society groups, also signed the document.

The Transitional Peace Government is to present an alternative to the de facto government made up of army officers and allied (Islamist) civilians in Port Sudan, calls for the formation of “a government of unity and peace”. According to well-informed sources it was agreed to form this government inside Sudanese territory within one month.

Principles

The text of the founding charter, seen by Radio Dabanga, calls for the establishment of a secular, democratic, decentralised state, based on freedom, equality, and justice. This state respects the principles of “voluntary unity of its peoples and regions”, and “the preservation of its national sovereignty and cultural diversity”.

The charter emphasises equal citizenship and Sudanese identity, and prohibits the establishment of any political party or organisation on a religious basis and any political propaganda on religious or racial grounds. The agreement further provides the right to self-determination in case secularism is not stipulated in the transitional constitution and a permanent constitution in the future.

All forms of extremism, military interventions, and the exploitation of religion for political purposes are criminalised.

The text also stipulates a commitment to justice, historical accountability, and an end to impunity. A professional intelligence agency is to be established, devoid of any ideological, political or partisan loyalty.

A newly formed army that is to reflect the diversity of Sudan’s regions “will be subject to civilian oversight and control”.

The Political Leadership Council of the SPLM-N El Hilu agreed to move forward through the Sudan Constituent Alliance Charter, and lauded the agreement as it reflects the movement’s “vision of the new Sudan” that respects diversity and based on freedom, justice and equality, by “clearly addressing the relationship between religion and the state”.

Criticism

Kenyan President William Ruto said in a message on X Saturday he had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the situations in Congo and in Sudan.

He explained that “we discussed the situation in the Republic of the Sudan and Kenya’s crucial role in providing a platform for key stakeholders – including political parties, civil society, and other actors – to engage in a process aimed at stopping the tragic slide of Sudan into anarchy and ensuring a pathway towards sustainable peace”.

Ruto has been widely criticised for hosting the RSF, not only by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the government in Port Sudan, including a protest statement by Malik Agar, former rebel leader and now vice president of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, but also by the Kenyan press and political commentators.

Senator Jim Risch, chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, commented on X by saying that Kenya, “a U.S. ally, is helping the RSF legitimize their genocidal rule in #Sudan under the guise of peacemaking—this is an unthinkable attempt to obscure the truth and will not end the massacre”.

According to Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC, the RSF “is trying to achieve at the negotiating table that which it has failed to achieve on the battlefield.

Prominent Sudan researcher and analyst Eric Reeves warned that “though losing on the battlefield, [RSF Commander] Hemedti & Co. are more than capable of making life intolerable for millions of Sudanese”.

UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, on Wednesday said that any attempt by the RSF and allied groups to establish a parallel government “would escalate Sudan’s crisis and deepen divisions”. 

‘Disintegration’

Khaled Omar Yousef, deputy chair of the Sudanese Congress Party and a leading member of the Sumoud political alliance, a faction of the Tagadom coalition that split on February 10 into Sumoud, chaired by former PM Abdalla Hamdok, and the group that now signed the agreement with the SPLM-N and RSF in Nairobi, commented on the charter that Sudan is heading towards fragmentation and disintegration.

“Today, once again, Sudan is heading towards fragmentation and disintegration, a stage more dangerous than a mere division leading to two stable states,” he said on his party’s X and Facebook accounts yesterday.

“Everything that is happening now is pushing in this direction: Port Sudan’s attempt to impose a de facto authority that has no legitimacy, and the Nairobi Charter’s proposal to form a government that further complicates the situation rather than resolving it.”

‘Red line’

The Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aaty announced his country’s rejection of the formation of any parallel government in Sudan yesterday.

In a joint press conference with his Sudanese counterpart Ali Yousef following a meeting of the Egyptian-Sudanese Political Consultation Mechanism in Cairo, Abdel Aaty said that “The territorial integrity of Sudan is a red line for Egypt.

 “We reject any calls to form any parallel frameworks to the existing framework in Sudan,” he stated.

Yousef added that Sudan will “not accept any other country recognising a parallel government. The war in Sudan will not end except with the victory of the army”.