Displaced seek dismissal of South Darfur governor

The General Coordination of Camps for the Displaced and Refugees in South Darfur has given the Sudanese government a week to dismiss South Darfur governor Mousa Mahdi. The displaced accuse him of supplying tribal groups with weapons that were used in the camps.

Yagoub Mohamed Abdallah, the general coordinator of the group, threatened “to bring down the government” if it insists on supporting the governor.

Abdallah considers the statements made by governor Mahdi last Wednesday at the Forum of State Governors as an attempt “to demonise Kalma camp in preparation for its dismantling”.

Mousa Mahdi has called on the transitional government to intervene to address the security situation in Kalma camp. Speaking at the Forum of State Governors he said that the situation in the camp is “shrouded in sensitivity” due to the camp's complex security conditions. He stated that Kalma camp is “a state within a state”.

Abdallah told Radio Dabanga that the government summoned the governor. He stated that the government considers Mahdi’s statements as “an extension of the mentality of the former regime”. The government apparently stressed that the camp “is exclusively for the displaced”. It allegedly considers the governor’s remarks “an incitement for armed groups to attack the camp and an attempt to legitimise these attacks”

The governor’s statements coincides with the exit of the United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) mission from the camp and the handing over of UNAMID’s bases to the Ministry of Health, which seeks to convert them into a health centres.

Abdallah also said that they hold the governor, Mousa Mahdi, fully responsible for any violence or attack that the camp may be exposed to in the future.

More than 100,000 people live in Kalma camp. It is one of the largest camps for displaced in Darfur.