Sudan’s defence and security budget slated

Members of Parliament have criticised the state defence and security budget during deliberations following Sudan President Omar Al Bashir’s address on Monday to the National Assembly, composed of the Parliament and the State Council.

MPs specifically criticised the allocation of three quarters of the state budget for security and defence instead of development and services.

They pointed out that the reason for the budget deficit is security chaos which has resulted in a rise in consumer prices for commodities such as meat and sugar by up to 100 per cent, and a rise in medicine prices of up to 140 per cent.

MP Eisa Ali Ajab said that the citizens have lost credibility in the executive branch. “The disruption of security in entire provinces has led to the allocation of three-quarters of the budget for the security sector,” he said, “but measures taken to collect weapons are insufficient to achieve security.”

Exemption

MP Ismail Yousif demanded exemption for the areas adjacent to South Kordofan from the collection of weapons, or the formation of reserve forces to secure the pastoralists in the area.

He described the method of collecting weapons as unsuccessful because of threats and intimidation.

He demanded that weapons be collected in the best way possible and that the native administration leaders should be released from prison.

The head of the parliamentary Social Affairs Committee, El Tayeb El Ghazali, said the biggest challenge now is the people's livelihood.

He criticised the rise of prices of consumer goods, medicines and the higher and private education fees.