Sudan’s resistance committees show unity against corruption

Resistance Committees active in the localities, towns and villages of El Gezira and Northern State have united “to face the current challenges”. New vigils in Northern state and Khartoum demand the dismissal of corrupt officials and better services.

In a press conference in El Gezira capital Wad Madani yesterday, the Resistance Committees announced that they have formed a Coordination office.

Leading member of the Resistance Committees Coordination, Asad Abdelgadir said they are ready to develop relations with their counterparts in other states and with the newly appointed civilian governors, to work on the democratic transition.

Abdelgadir said the Resistance Committees are ready as well to participate in the preparation of the planned Economic Conference in El Gezira. They are also prepared to cooperate with the state technical committees of the national Empowerment* Elimination, Anti-Corruption, and Funds Recovery Committee, besides working with farmers' organisations and other citizens groups to raise awareness concerning human rights.

He further called on the authorities to “complete the civil power structures and form a Legislative Council”.

Coordination Committee

In Northern State, the Resistance Committees yesterday announced the formation of a Coordination Committee for all the state's localities.

This came in a meeting held by representatives of the Resistance Committees of six localities at the premises of the Sudanese Professionals Association in Dongola.

The committee began its duties immediately.

On Monday, the Resistance Committees of Kerma in Northern State organised a vigil in the town, in protest against the deterioration of services and the failure of the authorities to meet the needs of the citizens.

A listener told Radio Dabanga that the protesters demand the dismissal of the director of Kerma Administrative Unit, its administrative officer, as well of the staff of the health clinic in the area.

They gave the authorities 48 hours to meet their demands and threatened to escalate and disrupt administrative work if their demands were not met.

In Khartoum, the sit-in set up by Resistance Committees in Jebel Awlia continued for the second day.

The protestors demand the dismissal of the locality director and managers, and the formation of a committee “to review the personnel files in the locality and remove empowerment*”.

They further demand an “emergency room” for the rainy season, activation of the waste collection in the locality, and corporate responsibility of the companies established in the locality, in particular the military industrial area and the Sundus agricultural project. In addition, the slums in the locality must be re-structured.

Support for Darfur sti-in in Khartoum

People from Buram in South Darfur living in Khartoum organised a protest vigil in front of the Council of Ministers yesterday in support of the demands of the sit-in in their hometown, which has entered its eighth day.

The participants in the vigil raised banners calling for a response to the sit-in's demands for the dismissal of the Buram locality director and the provision of clean drinking water, electricity, and better health services

Yesterday, Darfuri nomads staged a vigil in front of the Council of Ministers in Khartoum, demanding peaceful coexistence in the country’s conflict-torn western region.

Participants of the vigil handed a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Office demanding him “to urgently intervene to stop the bloodshed and ethnic polarisation” in the region.

They further demand the restoration of the Rule of Law, the protection of herders and their livestock, the opening of passage and pasture tracks, in addition to the protection of farmers, the establishment of more police stations and posts, disarmament, and the provision of better basic services in Darfur.

PM Abdallah Hamdok met with the Governor of North Darfur, Mohamed Arabi, in Khartoum on Monday.

In a press statement after the meeting, Arabi said they discussed the insecurity and the dire living conditions in the state.

He informed Hamdok about plans to form the government of North Darfur and its work programme during the coming period

Hamdok directed the strengthening of efforts to protect civilians and make the agricultural season in North Darfur a success.

Anti-corruption

The Empowerment* Elimination, Anti-Corruption, and Funds Recovery team in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur has recovered 27 properties for the state, in addition to 22 real estate projects.

The Secretary-General of the North Darfur government, the director of the North Darfur Meteorological Authority, the head of the state Committee for Drug Control, and the director of Abu Hamra agricultural project were relieved from their positions, the committee told reporters in El Fasher yesterday.

The committee also withdrew the permits of a number of civil society organisations founded by “influential people of the former regime, or registered with recommendations from them, that received financial support from the United Nations under the direction of the defunct regime.

“They could fill the void created by the expulsion of international organisations at the time,” the committee said.

After the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague officially accused former President Omar Al Bashir in 2009 of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in Darfur, the angry president evicted many international aid organisations from the country.

* 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 Committee was established in the end of last year, with the aim to purge Sudan of the remnants of the Al Bashir regime.

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