SUDAN: Gen Muhoozi advice very relevant

In his tweet of November 21, last year, Uganda’s Commander of the Land Forces, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba recognized the role being conducted by Sudanese military leader, Gen Abdel Fattah Bruhan and rallied African leaders to render him support.

In his words he said: “We pray for our brothers and sisters in Sudan all the time. However, there is no doubt that His Excellence, Gen Abdel Fattah Bruhan, is one of the greatest leaders in Africa today. He must be supported.’’

Gen Muhoozi’s clarion call for Africa’s support towards the Sudan is timely and relevant. It comes at the time when more than ever the continent needs a tight cohesion in forming what president Museveni calls a ‘center of gravity’ for its economic and strategic survival. This cannot be achieved unless the African people in their respective countries appreciate it and engage in activities towards it and not away from it.

Since October 25 last year, the Republic of the Sudan has been witnessing multiple developments in the political, economic and security fields. Unfortunately, a section of the population has opted to adhere to misleading advises by mostly non-Africans who are sponsoring destructive activities, including violent mass protests. This is wrong! Sudanese must first and foremost look at the interests of their country. Being destructive—by sabotaging private and public properties adds no value and definitely not in the broad national interests of the Sudan. This, rather aggravates the situation and complicates the scene by maintaining the country in a perpetual state of anarchy.

Among interventions for which Lt Gen Muhoozi, praises Gen Bruhan are his dissolution of the initial Transitional Sovereign Council (TSC), whose composition constituted of hand-picked individuals whose interests in many ways posed serious threats to the stability of the Sudan and the region in general. The development emerged from growing sharp differences that were evolving between the civilian and military components. Contrary to pushing for issues of national interest, individuals were pre-occupying themselves with strategies to favorably position themselves ahead of the scheduled 2023 democratic elections. The glaring consequence of this was an escalation of the economic situation in which inflation hit a record high of 400%, never experienced before even during the worst times of Gen Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Gen Fattah and other military officers with whom they relived Omar Bashir of the presidency, perceived the worsening situations as a betrayal of the 2019 revolution spirit and as a precursor for renewed civil strife in the country.

Gen Bruhan has since replaced the previous TSC with a neutral team of pure technocrats who have no political ambitions to pursue at the cost of the Sudanese welfare aspirations. In so doing, he has since welcomed representatives to the new TSC from the diverse social strata of the Sudan. Therefore, it’s imperative upon the people of Sudan, the international and regional partners to provide the necessary support in regard to the most balanced way forward without resort to threats, sanctions and violence.

On the other hand, despite the current internal challenges, Khartoum has to sustain its role as a stability mediator in neighboring countries—particularly in the Central African Republic and South Sudan where its interventions in the recent past have been positive. It has also to prioritize the issue of cultivating good relations with all the important African regions surrounding it—including the Sahel region, North Africa region, Horn of Africa region and the East African region.

Simon Kimoyi

Kampala International University