Kutum announces new restrictions to improve security

The commissioner of Kutum locality in North Darfur has issued a ban on the use of motorcycles, presence of armed vehicles inside cities and markets and carrying of weapons, days after the state governor vowed to implement more security measures.

The decision also has banned carrying of arms by forces in civilian uniforms inside cities and markets, tinting of vehicles and driving without plates. Only Sudanese soldiers in uniform are exempted from the bans.

The order goes into effect as of Wednesday and anyone who violates the order would be subject to punishment under Article 7 of the Emergency Measures.

On Monday a resident of Kutum told Radio Dabanga that the order was announced via a loudspeaker on top of a mobile vehicle that drove through all districts.

The decisions were issued after the joint meeting between Governor Abdelwahid Yousef, the security committee of Kutum and El Waha localities, and the leaders of the administration last week.

Yousef also discussed the rampant insecurity situation and ongoing attacks on camp residents in the area with leaders of camps, who informed him that the judiciary and authorities are absent in the area. “There are no judges, prosecutors, or even enough policemen in Kutum.”

In March, residents of Kassab camp reported that the security situation in Kutum and in the vicinity of the camp deteriorated even more since January, after Sudan’s second vice-president visited North Darfur.

The state of emergency in Kutum was imposed in 2012 after waves of hostility, and the governor appointed the military to take on police duties. Starting 2015 the first police and prosecutors gradually were deployed to return to the town in an attempt to fill the security vacuum.