El Bushra mooted to succeed Sese in Darfur Regional Authority

The Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) led by Bahar Idris Abu Garda has nominated Osman El Bushra as a replacement for the chairmanship of Dr El Tijani Sese of the Darfur Regional Authority.

Sharafeldin Mahmoud Mohamed Saleh, media secretary and spokesman for the LJM, told Radio Dabanga on Monday that Osman El Bushra has been nominated to succeed Sese because of what he called “Sese’s failure in the implementation of the basic things”. These things were “supposed to be done by the DRA, regarding the implementation of the Doha Document [for Peace in Darfur, DDPD]”.

Osman El Bushra was the Minister of Health within the DRA. He disclosed to the press in April this year that the implementation of the Doha peace  agreement was delayed.

The Justice and Equality Movement breakaway faction led by “Dabajo” Bakhit Abdallah Abdelkarim (JEM-Sudan), a signatory to the DDPD, has approved the nomination of Bushra for the DRA chairmanship. The group has asked the Sudanese presidency to expedite the extension of the DRA term, which President Omar Al Bashir officially announced on 26 June.

In a press statement on Monday, JEM-Sudan also called on the Sudanese presidency to rearrange the Authority by signing separate protocols with the signatories to the DDPD.

Sese ousted

On 18 January, the LJM interim board announced the ousting of Sese as its president. Conflicts within the leadership of the former rebel group surfaced in the preceding two months. The then new LJM chairman Abu Garda fiercely criticised the leadership regarding the postponement of parts of the security arrangements and the failure to implement development projects in Darfur.

As DRA head, Sese has been subjected to accusations of fraud. In January, Abu Garda accused him of deploying fighters of his personal militia into the Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) programme, as agreed on in the DDPD, instead of LJM ex-combatants.

Sese then formed the National Liberation and Justice Movement (NLJM), which was registered as political party in February.

Security committee meeting

The regional security committee also met on Monday in the hall of the Darfur Regional Authority in El Fasher, headed by El Tijani Sese. They discussed the position of the implementation of the decisions and directives by the First Vice-President on the security and stabilityin Darfur, Babiker Korena, the security arrangements commissioner of the DRA and secretary of the regional security committee said.

DDPD

The LJM, under the leadership of Dr El Tijani Sese, signed the DDPD with the Sudanese government in Qatar in July 2011. The breakaway faction JEM-Sudan co-signed the peace agreement in 2013. Sese became the head of the DRA on its establishment in February 2012.

The DRA is concerned with implementing development projects such as model villages and schools for people who have been displaced by the conflict.