Sudan’s South Kordofan government agrees to sit-in demands

The committee formed to follow up the implementation of the demands of the sit-in in Abu Jubeiha and the South Kordofan government agreed on a matrix for the implementation of 20 sit-in demands in the state capital Kadugli on Sunday.

The sit-in committee expressed its optimism, describing the agreement between the state government and the people as “a historic achievement”. In a press statement on Sunday, the committee said that they came to Kadugli “to help the authorities to bring these demands to reality”. The Resistance Committees active in the neighbourhoods and villages of Abu Jubeiha will take part in the implementation of the demands.

South Kordofan Governor Hamid El Bashir described the demands raised by the Abu Jubeiha Resistance Committees at their sit-in as “legitimate and important”.

After signing the matrix, the governor said the peaceful way the activists presented their demands “can serve as an example for cooperation between state governments and youth groups”.

The Abu Jubeiha sit-in that lasted for more than two months, was lifted on September 8, when the state government and the Abu Jubeiha Resistance Committees signed a joint agreement. A week earlier, the governor had already acceded to most of the sit-in demands.

Muglad

The leaders of the protest sit-in agreed with officials of the Chamber of Commerce in Muglad in West Kordofan on Thursday to remove the barricades in front of locality offices buildings and other government facilities in the town. The Chamber of Commerce tried to calm down the situation in the town. The offices had been blocked for more than a month.

El Naeem Ali, leading member of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) in Abyei-Muglad locality, told Radio Dabanga that they will continue the sit-in until its demands are fully met.

Activist Mohamed Salem told Radio Dabanga that the state government sent a committee to Muglad on Friday to investigate the attack on the helicopter that brought West Kordofan Governor Hammad Abdelrahman from the state capital El Fula to Muglad when he visited the sit-in on Tuesday.

Violence in Muglad resulted in damage to the governor's aircraft, and an attempt to set fire to locality buildings. The committee had intensive meetings with officials of the West Kordofan government, the Security Committee, and members of the FFC in the town , Salem reported.

Dongola

In Dongola, capital of Northern State, 26 Nubian protest groups handed a memorandum to the Secretary of the Northern State government. They demand that the construction of the Kajbar and Dal dams be stopped, gold mining companies that use cyanide and mercury be removed, and that two per cent of the revenues from the Merowe Dam will be allocated to the development of agriculture in Northern State.

They also seek the formation of a National Commission for the reconstruction of the Nubian region, retribution for the anti-Kajbar dam demonstrators that were killed and injured in 2007, and an urgent investigation in the fires at palm trees plantations in 2017.

Among the groups that signed the memorandum are environmental protection committees, groups resisting the Dal and Kajbar dams, Resistance Committees, and civil society organisations.

Blind people

In Khartoum, dozens of blind people and people with special needs organised a sit-in in front of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare on Sunday. The chairperson of the Initiative of the Blind Believers in Change, Atef Osman, said that the demonstrators call for an investigation into the finances and properties of the Federation of Handicapped. Cases of fraud must be transferred to the Empowerment Removal Committee*.

He said that several memoranda had already been submitted to the Ministry of Labour and to the Council of Ministers, but no response had been received.

Osman regretted that Minister of Labour and Social Development Lina El Sheikh did not address the protesters.

Khartoum Water Authority

Staff of the Khartoum Water Authority continued their sit-in in Khartoum on Sunday for the 12th day in a row, demanding the dismissal of the managers and a re-structuring of the organisation.

Mona Abdelmunim, one of the participants in the sit-in, told reporters yesterday that the workers have not received their wages for four months.

She pointed at the rampant corruption within the management. The strikes call for the formation of a committee to remove those who were enrolled in the corporation by the former regime.

“We demand the dismissal of all department managers and the restructuring of the corporation,” Abdelmunim said. She stressed the need to expedite the formation of a department of the Empowerment Removal Committee* in White Nile state.

The strikers also called for a solution for the problems temporary workers face, an increase of the holiday benefits to SDG750**, a review of the procurement system, and fuel for the vehicles of the Authority.

Kenana Sugar Company

The staff of the Kenana Sugar Company in White Nile state continue their sit-in, set up more than three weeks ago, despite the company’s management warnings to the striking workers last week that they will not be paid for the days they strike.

On Saturday, protest leaders at the sit-in ridiculed this decision of the company's management. They declared that they will keep to their demands, which include the dismissal of the managing director, recognition of the union’s new steering committee by the company’s management, and re-employment of the workers who were dismissed because of their participation in the revolution.

* The Empowerment Elimination, Anti-Corruption, and Funds Recovery Committee was established by the new government in the end of last year, with the aim to purge Sudan of the remnants of the Al Bashir regime. 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.

** USD 1 = SDG 55.1375 at the time of publishing this article. As effective foreign exchange rates can vary widely in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily middle US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS).

Radio Dabanga’s editorial independence means that we can continue to provide factual updates about political developments to Sudanese and international actors, educate people about how to avoid outbreaks of infectious diseases, and provide a window to the world for those in all corners of Sudan. Support Radio Dabanga for as little as €2.50, the equivalent of a cup of coffee.