Central Darfur merchants call foul on shop allocations

Several merchants in the Central Darfur capital of Zalingei have accused Governor Jaafar Abdelhakam of illegally confiscating 50 shops and transferring them to people loyal to him.

The merchants, most of whom are internally displaced people, say they bought the shops at an auction in 2015 from former Zalingei Commissioner Abdallah Jak for the payment of SDG 30,000 ($4,500).

They said in a statement that the current Zalingei Commissioner, Khalid Bilal, validated the sale by issuing certificates, contracts, and building permits, however, on Sunday, Governor Abdelhakam issued a decision suspending the sale, confiscated the shops from the merchants, and giving them to people loyal to him.

The merchants said that they formed a committee headed by El Tijani Zakariya that met with Zalingei Commissioner Bilal who told them that the issue is no longer in his hands, but in the hands of the Governor, who refused to meet them.

The merchants said in the statement that their demands include that the governor abolish the decision, return of the shops to their owners, and pay them the amounts they have initially paid with compensation of the construction cost and payment of the price differences.