Khartoum security clampdown: Sudan capital bans pillion riders on motorcycles

The Khartoum state Wali (governor) has issued a degree banning pillion riders on motorcycles. The measure, aimed at improving security and combatting lawlessness, will carry stiff penalties, and gives police wide powers, including the threat of arrest of both driver and passenger, and seizure of the motorcycle in case of a repeat offence.

On Thursday, the Wali of Khartoum, Ahmed Othman Hamza, issued a decree that stipulates that it is prohibited for anyone who drives a motor bike to carry another person with him. Police may arrest both the person who rides the motorcycles, as well as the passenger, and “whoever violates the decree shall be punished imprisonment for a period of two months or a fine not exceeding SDG 100,000, or both.

The degree states that in the event of a repetition of the violation, the driver may be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding four months and a fine of SDG 500,000. “The officer in charge at any moving or fixed point may order the seizure of any motorcycle at the nearest traffic detention centre whenever violation the decree is suspected.

Measures

This decree is in line with a government intention to issue exceptional decisions and plans to secure citizens, after an expanded meeting was held on Thursday at the Presidential Palace headed by a member of the Sovereignty Council, Abdelbagi El Zubair.

The meeting included the designated Ministers of Justice and Interior, the Attorney General, the representative of the Chief Justice, and the Khartoum State Security Coordination Committee, to discuss the security situation in the state and take the necessary measures to secure citizens – according to a statement from the Sovereignty Council.

Khartoum Wali, Ahmed Hamza, explained that the meeting ensured the necessity for the State Security Coordination Committee to play its role in light of the exceptional circumstances the country is witnessing.

He stressed that the state government will issue a number of decisions that support the performance of the regular forces and the conduct of patrols, as well as an exceptional plan to secure the movement of citizens during the last ten days of Ramadan and the Eid period.

Crime wave

The governor of Khartoum attributed the increase in the crime rate to the high population density, economic pressures, and the phenomenon of displacement. He called on the public to play their role by immediately reporting negative phenomena and dealing in accordance with the law to dry up crime sites.

Recently, the phenomenon of kidnapping and armed robbery spread. Khartoum witnessed, for some time, a state of insecurity and an increase in the crimes of theft, and kidnapping, robbery at gunpoint, since the October 25, 2021 coup.