100+ political and civil forces in Sudan protest ‘biassed statement’ by African Union chair

More than 100 democratic parties, organisations and civil leaders, have signed an official protest memorandum addressed to the leaders of the African Union, in which they expressed their concern and objection to the statement issued by Mahmoud Ali Youssef, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, on December 30, 2025. The signatories criticised his welcoming of what he described as the “peace initiative” presented from Port Sudan, which represents the headquarters of one of the parties to the war that has been raging since April 2023.

In their memorandum, the civil forces considered the statement to be a “blatant deviation” from the institutional decisions of the African Union, and to grant “undue legitimacy” to one of the parties to the conflict, thus undermining the principle of neutrality that any mediator, such as the African Union, should possess in light of the raging war in Sudan.

The memorandum was signed by representatives of 14 political parties, 13 civil society organisations and alliances, as well as dozens of academics, researchers, former diplomats, representatives of Sudanese resistance committees, women’s rights organisations, journalists, writers, creators, and artists.

The memorandum, sent to President João Lourenço of Angola, the current Chairperson of the African Union, and to Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the Commission, as well as to the foreign ministers of the fifteen member states of the African Union Peace and Security Council, affirmed that the African Union institutions do not recognise any legitimate government in Sudan since its suspension from all AU activities. It added that the Chairperson’s characterisation of the initiative as emanating from a “transitional government” constitutes a serious contradiction of this institutional position and undermines the principle of impartiality that must be upheld in any mediation.

Bias

Babiker Faisal, a leader in the Federal Gathering, said that the African Union’s positions are harming the process of ending the war in Sudan, because it is biased towards one of the parties to the conflict, which complicates its neutrality towards the ongoing war in the country.

Faisal explained to Radio Dabanga that there is a contradiction between the personal positions of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the official position of the Union, adding: “The African Union has frozen Sudan’s activities since the October 2021 coup, and therefore does not recognise the existence of a legitimate government in Sudan.”

Faisal emphasised that the African Union’s lack of neutrality, as a continental institution, will lead many civil society groups to reconsider their stance on its role in the Sudanese political process, given its broad umbrella under which these groups rely. He noted that the memorandum was signed by various civil society groups to alert the African Union to the seriousness of these positions and the necessity of correcting them to align with its official stances.

Five demands

The signatories called for five main demands, which were: addressing the contradiction between the African Union’s well-known institutional position on Sudan and the Commission Chairperson’s welcoming of an initiative by one of the warring parties; a commitment to neutrality and independence by all African Union officials; effective coordination with the Quartet Mechanism initiative and regional and international tracks, and support for efforts to unify them; and finally, ensuring the existence of accountability mechanisms within the African Union Commission, to ensure that individual positions that contradict the governing principles of the African Union institution as a whole are not repeated.

The signatories expressed their confidence in the wisdom of the leaders of the African Union and the member states, stressing that “the future of Sudan – and the credibility of the African Union – depend on the collective ability to overcome biases and narrow interests, and to work sincerely towards achieving a comprehensive and just peace in Sudan.”

Read the complete protest memorandum here:

Memorandum from the Sudanese Democratic Civil Forces: Regarding the biased statement by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission