Sudan anti-corruption committee calls for criminal procedings

The Empowerment Elimination, Anti-Corruption, and Funds Recovery Committee said in a press release yesterday that it has gathered sufficient information about the activities of members of the former Sudanese regime under Omar Al Bashir.

The Committee issued a directive yesterday to its state branches to take criminal procedures via the Public Prosecution according to the 2019 Empowerment Elimination Act (amended in 2020), the 2014 Counter-Terrorism and Money Laundering  Act, and the 1991 Criminal Code (also amended in 2020).

According to the statement, the information relates to acts of burning, robbing, and terrorising unarmed people. “Peacefulness is the sharpest weapon with which to beat violence,” it said, indicating that this information lays the groundwork for completing Sudan’s “democratic transformation”.

Sovereignity Council member and Deputy Chairman of the Empowerment Elimination Committee, Mohamed El Faki, said that the committee requires the attention of the new government.

“People are still waiting for large files inherited from the defunct regime [to be made public], and much work awaits us. Hope is still there, and so is the will,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday. He also called for the approval of the Internal Security Act to be accelerated.

He expressed support of the statement about the priorities of Sudan’s new government, given yesterday by Khaled Omar, the new President of the Council of Ministers and former Deputy Head of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP). El Faki said they answer the urgent daily needs of the people, and that realisation of justice and reform of security are connected issues.

The spokesperson for the Committee, Salah Manna, tweeted on Wednesday: “We will pave the way for the new government by dismantling the structure of empowerment and dissolving the defunct party for the benefit of this nation”.

'Empowerment'

Empowerment (tamkin) is the term with which the ousted government of Omar Al Bashir supported its affiliates in state affairs by granting them far-going privileges, including government functions and the setting-up of various companies.

The Empowerment Elimination, Anti-Corruption, and Funds Recovery Committee was formed in November 2019 after the transitional government approved a law to dismantle the institutions set-up by the regime of Omar Al Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP).

Since then, the Committee has been instrumental in breaking the party’s grip on the political scene and state resources. However, many officials linked with the former regime are still deployed on state and locality levels.