Sudan’s civilian Walis take office

The newly-appointed civilian Walis (governors) of Sudan’s 18 states have begun to assume office, according to the directives of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok.

Following a ceremony at which the new governors were took the Oath of Office at the Republican Palace in Khartoum on Tuesday, the Council of Ministers chaired by PM Hamdok reviewed a report on the appointment of the civilian governors who returned to their states, the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reports.

Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, and official government spokesman, Feisal Mohamed Saleh said the PM presented a detailed report on the stages and consultations preceded the appointment of the Walis of the states and the meetings he held with the Walis before and after the oath-taking.

He said the PM directed the Walis to return to their states tackle the urgent issues and give top priority to maintaining security and improvement of living condition.

“The Cabinet directed the concerned circles to support the civilian governors to overcome the big challenges they face, specially, in this stage,” Saleh said.

North Darfur

Accordingly, the new Wali of North Darfur, Mohamed Arabi, arrived in the state capital of El Fasher accompanied by a high-level delegation from the Federal Government Office to officially assume office yesterday. This was dome in the presence of the former Acting Wali of the state, Maj Gen, Malik Khojali.

South Darfur

In the South Darfur capital of Nyala, Wali Mousa Mahdi, stated that he will treat all the parties and ethnic groups in the state, equally, stressing that he will “remove all forms of empowerment* in the state”.

The governor immediately issued a set of decisions preventing spending from the budget, and curtailing celebrations or receptions funded by the state.

Speaking via SUNA, he pledged to restore the prestige of the state and solve the security problems, affirming his government’s ability to address all the issues in the state in cooperation with all components in the state.

El Gezira

The Wali of El Gezira state, Abdallah Idris also assumed office on Wednesday at the Secretariat of El Gezira State Government in the presence of the former Wali of the State, Maj Gen Ahmed Sober.

The newly-appointed governor said in press statements that “this day is important for the transition to the civilian state which will work for the improvement of living conditions, dismantle the remnants of the of the one-party state, and realisation of the motto of the December Revolution of Freedom, Peace and Justice”.

Idris affirmed the necessity for constructive opposition based on democracy and the peaceful handling of power, calling on the Resistance Committees not to practice violence and exclusion.

Civilian governors

On July 22, PM Hamdok announced the names of the new civilian state governors. Two of them are women.

In a televised press conference at the Council of Ministers in Khartoum, Hamdok described the appointment of the new governors as “the real start of change in the states”.

The new governors are: Ayman Khalid (Khartoum), Abdallah Ohaj (Red Sea state), Saleh Ammar (Kassala), Suleiman Ali (El Gedaref), El Mahi Suleiman (Sennar), Abdelrahman Noureldayem (Blue Nile state), Hamid El Bashir (South Kordofan), Hamid Abdelrahman (West Kordofan), Khalid Mustafa (North Kordofan), Ismail Warrag (White Nile state), Abdallah Idris (El Gezira), Amna El Mekki (River Nile state), Amal Ezzeldin (Northern State), Mohamed Arabi (North Darfur), Mohamed Eisa (East Darfur), Mousa Mahdi (South Darfur), Adeeb Yousef (Central Darfur), and Mohamed El Doma (West Darfur).

Following the formation of the Council of Ministers in September last year, the Sudanese people expected the acting military governors appointed by the regime of ousted President Al Bashir to be replaced by civilian state managers.

Yet, in the peace negotiations between the government and the rebel movements that started the same month, it was agreed that new, civilian governors would only be appointed after the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement.

In April this year, the rebel groups in principle agreed on the appointment of civilian state rulers. In early July, the government and the armed movements agreed on replacing three to four federal ministers and two members of the Sovereign Council in favour of the rebels. The last outstanding issue to be discussed before reaching a final peace agreement concerns the security arrangements.

* 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.