Eastern Sudan conference ‘will succeed’ in finding solutions 

The AU-IGAD-UNITAMS Trilateral Mechanism announced that the conference on governance in eastern Sudan will take place in Khartoum from February 12 to 15.  

Hamrour Hussein, a leading member of the People’s Front for Liberation and Justice and member of the High Committee for the Preparation of the Eastern Sudan Conference, expects the workshop to succeed in identifying the necessary solutions. 

The eastern Sudan conference is the next step in discussions over five so-called thorny issues in the country. The latest conference on the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) explored drivers of conflict and ways to better implement and revitalise the agreement. The first conference, on the empowerment removal process, concluded in Khartoum on January 12. 

The mechanism said in a statement on Tuesday that it seeks to involve all stakeholders in the East to discuss “the road map for political and security stability, along with sustainable development.” 

Hussein told Radio Dabanga that the Trilateral Mechanism and the signatories to the Framework Agreement have started preparing the conference “to encourage clear outputs and set a clear roadmap that will serve the region and its people.”  

Regarding those reluctant to participate in the conference, Hussein accused “officials affiliated with the ousted regime of Al Bashir” of “obstructing solutions for eastern Sudan and seeking to inflame the situation.”  

He pointed out that “the parties to the conflict in eastern Sudan are all but one participating in the Cairo conference, which shows the roots of the crisis.” He also accused “opponents of democratic transition in eastern Sudan” of harming the ports in Red Sea state. 

He rejected “protests closing roads and access to ports,” as supporters of the High Council of Beja Nazirs and Independent Chieftains under the leadership of Sayed Tirik have done in the past few years. 

Protesters from the High Beja Nazirs Council stormed a workshop organised by the German Max Planck Foundation in Khartoum on Monday. The workshop was dedicated to constitutional development in Sudan at the locality, native administration*, and judicial levels. The event did not go ahead as planned. 

The protesters said that they stormed the offices because their representatives from eastern Sudan, including native administration leaders, members of rural courts, and administrative officers were not invited. 

Hussein condemned the incident and “insults aimed at the participants by the protesters.”  

*The Native Administration was instituted by British colonial authorities seeking a pragmatic system of governance that allowed for effective control with limited investment and oversight by the state. According to the Darfur Bar Association (DBA), the Native Administration during the 30-year rule of dictator Omar Al Bashir did not represent the real local leaders and accused them of corruption.