Darfur Governor lambasts poor security measures in wake of ‘tribal’ massacre

The governor of Darfur, Minni Arko Minawi, criticised the security forces in Darfur, explaining that security in Darfur “needs to be privatised and reformed”. In a press statement during a Ramadan Iftar in Khartoum on Sunday, Minawi said “organisations and the local community should pay officers so that troops can move and intervene to resolve conflicts”.

Minawi stressed the need to reform the security services, following the joint forces’ hasty withdrawal from the tribal clashes in the Kereinik area of West Darfur.

Minawi said that the security services are late in intervening in tribal conflicts due to the lack of fuel and logistics. He added that the failure to pass the regional governance law, has meant that Darfur’s “governors have no power to intervene in resolving security failures”.

The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) also condemned the attack in Kereinik, calling it “barbaric and inhumane”. The official spokesman for the FFC and Secretary General for the Umma Party, El Wasig El Bereir, told Radio Dabanga “the security forces were responsible”. He called for a transparent and independent investigation “to bring the perpetrators to justice”.

El Bereir went on to add that these events “confirmed the weakness of the state, security, and military”. He also stated that the “Juba agreement was a project of quotas and power-sharing, and has nothing to do with protecting the people”.