Politics

Sudan’s Burhan rejects IGAD, UAE role in Geneva talks

Published

1 month ago

August 15, 2024

Ahead of the forthcoming dialogue in Switzerland this week, the Sudanese army delegation has rejected suggestions including the United Arab Emirates, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), and the regional bloc.

The action, which is the most recent requirement imposed by the junta led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, might disrupt the US-sponsored Geneva Dialogue coming Wednesday. However, it also represents Burhan’s misgivings about the regional alliance and Abu Dhabi’s role in this conflict with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The US-hosted preliminary meetings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday and Sunday discussed the subject of participants, leading to the current step.

First, the Sudanese military demanded that no negotiations take place until the RSF opened humanitarian corridors and stopped attacking people. Then it declared that it would not participate in the talks unless the UAE and Igad abstained.

The group has not even received an invitation to the meeting, an insider at the Igad office in Djibouti informed The EastAfrican.

However, the so-called “consultations” between the American side and the Sudanese government delegation in Jeddah ended without any major progress, underscoring the growing divergence of views over the peace process in Sudan.

As per well-informed sources, the junta delegation from Sudan voiced considerable reluctance regarding the participation of specific foreign parties, stating that their existence may jeopardise the process’s integrity. Sudan has charged, and the US has backed, that the UAE is arming RSF and dragging out the conflict.

However, Abu Dhabi denied this accusation, even in a July statement that was presented to the UN Security Council.

Negotiations had concluded “without an agreement on the participation of the Sudanese delegation in the Geneva negotiations,” according to the group’s leader, Sudan’s Minister of Minerals, Mohamed Bashir Abu Namu. “Whether the delegation represents the army according to their desire or represents the government according to our decision from now on,” he stated, was the point of disagreement.

“This matter will be left in the hands of our leadership to decide according to its estimates, and certain details. Many things led us to this decision to end the consultative dialogue without an agreement.”

The RSF should not be granted the same standing as the Sudanese army, which claims to want to be the de facto representative of the country. Locally, the RSF describes the Army as rebels and the Army as surviving members of the Muslim Brotherhood connected to ousted leader Omar al-Bashir.

However, Burhan adds that to show a united front abroad, future negotiations should refer to his delegation as the official government, entitled to use the official government seal and distinguishing from the Sudanese army’s representation.

Politics

Again, warring parties in Sudan open to peaceful solutions

Published

1 day ago

September 19, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to US President Joe Biden’s demand for the warring sides to resume talks, Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) declared they are amenable to peaceful resolutions to the conflict, which has been raging for more than 17 months.

Army Chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who made this announcement on Wednesday, said the Sudanese government was still open to any positive initiatives aimed at ending the conflict. RSF Leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, then expressed a similar opinion early on Thursday.

“We reaffirm our commitment to ceasefire negotiations. We believe that the path to peace lies in dialogue, not random violence, and we will continue to engage in peace processes to secure a future free from fear and suffering for all Sudanese civilians,” Dagalo said on X.

Nonetheless, both men accused one another of abuses and shared guilt for the inability to put a stop to a conflict that has claimed the lives of over 12,000 people since it began in April 2023. They haven’t provided a detailed plan for arriving at a peaceful resolution.

Competition between the army and the RSF, which had previously shared power following a coup, erupted into open battle and marked the start of the conflict.

The United States-led mediators reported last month that although they had obtained commitments from both sides during discussions in Switzerland to enhance access for humanitarian aid, the progress had been impeded by the Sudanese army’s absence from the talks.

“We stand ready to work with all international partners in pursuit of a peaceful resolution that alleviates the suffering of our people and sets Sudan on a path towards security, stability, the rule of law, and the democratic transfer of power,” Burhan, the army chief, said in a statement.

Each side has accused the other of abusing power, although both have refuted earlier claims made by rights organisations and the US. Neither responded to the accusations or provided a statement in response to requests for comment.

Earlier in the month, a United Nations-mandated panel stated that both sides in Sudan’s civil war had engaged in acts that may qualify as war crimes, and proposed that to protect civilians, international powers must expand the arms embargo and send in peacekeepers.

Politics

Ghanian opposition protests, demands audit of voters register

Published

2 days ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ghana’s major opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party protested statewide on Tuesday, seeking an independent forensic audit to clean up the voter register for free and fair elections.

NDC leaders said the election commission secretly relocated voters to various voting sites, undermining the register.

In red and black, thousands of supporters marched through Accra’s main streets, blasting reggae and campaign music and calling on international bodies, Ghana’s peace council, and religious and civil society groups to intervene. Protest leaders petitioned parliament and the Accra electoral agency. Ghana’s other 15 regions also saw protests, local media said.

Protester Kwame Acheampong, 68, told Reuters in Akan that his registration had been moved from the capital to Tamale. He asked, “How can I vote in Tamale?”

Meanwhile, the electoral commission claims the flaws were fixed. It suspended a northern Pusiga district director in August for “using his credentials to transfer voters without their knowledge.” Ghana is one of Africa’s most stable democracies, although eight people died in the last election, which was marred by opposition claims that the government unjustly influenced the vote, which it rejected.

Allegations of irregularities tarnish the electoral authorities. Afrobarometer’s July survey found Ghana’s election commission’s trust at an all-time low since confidence polls began in 1999. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, NDC chairman, told demonstrators he wanted “transparent elections.”

Ghana will have general elections for president and parliamentarians on December 7, 2024. President Nana Akufo-Addo cannot run again due to term limits after eight years. Old NDC president John Dramani Mahama will face New Patriotic Party Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia in the election.

The President of Ghana is elected in two rounds, while 275 MPs are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting.