{"id":173202,"date":"2020-02-26T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dabangasudan.preview.websight.nl\/this-week-s-news-in-brief-203\/"},"modified":"2023-01-03T22:47:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T21:47:49","slug":"this-week-s-news-in-brief-203","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/this-week-s-news-in-brief-203","title":{"rendered":"\u2666 This week’s news in brief \u2666"},"content":{"rendered":"

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's news highlights from Darfur and Sudan<\/em><\/p>\n

♦  Fraud by Al Bashir’s adopted son led to $728 million debt for Sudan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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February 20 – 2020 WASHINGTON DC A well-documented investigative report released yesterday by the US-based investigative team The Sentry shows that ousted President Al Bashir’s adopted son Ayman El Mamoun used his connections to Sudan’s kleptocratic regime to establish a business that secured multiple contracts to import commodity goods at inflated prices.<\/p>\n

This led to higher costs of fertilisers, refined petroleum products, and other essential consumer commodities for ordinary Sudanese.<\/p>\n

It also led to huge debts for Sudan. The Sentry’s investigation shows that Badr Overseas Group, initially established by Ayman El Mamoun and another regime insider, appears to have used Gulf middlemen and links to Sudan’s government elite to secure contracts funded from the country’s revolving lines of credit with the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) between 2012 and 2018. The suspected scheme likely helped push Sudan’s debt to the regional bank to $728 million by the end of 2016.<\/p>\n

According to the report, only economic and diplomatic pressure from the international community can stem Sudan’s deep-seated corruption that has benefited elite insiders, including military and civilian officials, at the expense of the vast majority of its citizens. The country’s current military leaders and the new civilian government must therefore, The Sentry asserts, expose corrupt actors and hold them accountable while implementing strict measures to limit their influence.<\/p><\/div>\n

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♦  Sudan PM forms committee to investigate use of force against demos<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n
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February 23 – 2020 KHARTOUM The Sudanese Ministry of Health reported that 53 people were injured during a demonstration in Khartoum on Thursday<\/a>. Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has formed a committee that will investigative the excessive force used against the protestors.<\/p>\n

The Health Ministry said in a statement that various violent methods were used during the demonstrations, including live bullets, tear gas, batons, and iron pipes, as well as stones thrown at the protestors.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, PM Hamdok announced the formation of an investigative committee<\/a> regarding the disproportionate use of force against protestors on Thursday. The committee is expected to submit its final report within seven days.<\/p>\n

Minister of Information and government spokesman Feisal Mohamed Saleh pointed to certain political actors who are planning to infiltrate these peaceful demonstrations and use it to create confusion to topple the government. “The government is aware of these expedient plans,” he said.<\/p>\n

The police department denied the allegations that they use firearms against the peaceful demonstrators on Thursday. The police were instructed explicitly not to use violence.<\/p><\/div>\n

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More news from Radio Dabanga:<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Peace negotiations: 20 per cent of Sudan civil servants to be Darfuri<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

February 25 – 2020 JUBA The Sudanese government and the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance agreed during the peace negotiations in Juba yesterday to allocate 20 per cent of the Sudanese civil …<\/p>\n

Economist: Plunging Sudanese Pound leading to economic collapse<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

February 25 – 2020 LONDON \/ KHARTOUM A leading economic analyst has called for a programme to stabilise commodity prices and the US Dollar exchange rate in Sudan, warning of economic collapse …<\/p>\n

Sudan: Security officers detain, insult ‘black’ Nuba man<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

February 25 – 2020 KOSTI A week ago, a bus passenger from the Nuba Mountains was insulted and briefly detained by security personnel in Kosti in White Nile state. He was released after pressure from fellow …<\/p>\n

Activists: ‘ICC suspect Ali Kushayb has fled Sudan’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

February 23 – 2020 UM DAFOUG An activist group in South Darfur claims that former janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, who has been indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), has …<\/p>\n

Protests in North Darfur and Kassala against fuel shortages and corruption<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

February 21 – 2020 SARAF OMRA \/ KASSALA The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) and the resistance committees of Saraf Omra in the south-west of North Darfur carried out a demonstration in front of the …<\/p>\n

Book launched on Nuba Mountains language Katulissi<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

February 21 – 2020 KHARTOUM A book about the Katulissi language, one of the languages spoken in the Nuba Mountains, has been launched in Khartoum yesterday as part of the celebrations of International …<\/p>\n

Rift Valley fever suspected in Sudan’s Red Sea state, mycetoma plagues El Gezira<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

February 20 – 2020 ARYAB \/ WAD MADANI  The deaths of large numbers of livestock and cases of fever among residents in Aryab in Sudan’s Red Sea state, have raised concerns for the possible re-emergence of …<\/p>\n

North Darfur: 10,000 families newly displaced this week<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

February 20 – 2020 EL TINA \/ KABKABIYA Conflict in El Tina locality on the border with Chad, as well as friction between farmers and herders in Kabkabiya locality, have displaced more than 10,000 families in …<\/p>\n

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This digest is an excerpt from the weekly Sudan News Update. Subscribe here <\/a><\/strong>to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Help us deliver free information at a time when press freedom is especially under threat in Sudan. Our editorial independence means that we can continue to provide factual updates about ongoing protests to Sudanese and international actors, educate people about how to avoid outbreaks of cholera, and provide a window to the world for those in all corners of Sudan. <\/strong>Support Radio Dabanga for as little as €2.50, the equivalent of a cup of coffee.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n