A Major-General of the Sudan Armed Forces on Friday announced his defection from the army. He joined the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), under the banner of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF, an alliance of opposition forces).<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Bandar Ibrahim Abu El Baloul told Radio Dabanga that he decided to defect because of \u201cthe situation Sudan has reached during the regime of the National Congress Party (NCP)\u201d, mentioning \u201csystematic corruption, extreme poverty and monopoly of wealth by a minority, preference of security and military solutions to resolve the country\u2019s problems, a centralised system of governance, and the use of policies of divide-and rule and impoverishment in order to destroy the social fabric of the Sudanese society\u201d.<\/p>\n
General Abou El Baloul in particular referred to the situation of the Misseriya and Rizeigat nomadic tribes. \u201cThey have lost thousands of livestock as a result of the Khartoum regime\u2019s involvement in political conspiracies against South Sudan. These policies have had enormous effects on the life of herders seasonally crossing the Sudan-South Sudan border with their livestock. The Misseriya and Rizeigat have thus been impoverished. They have remained illiterate and poor, to be used as fuel for the regime\u2019s absurd wars.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also pointed to the grievances associated with the oil extracted from areas traditionally belonging to the Misseriya. \u201cThey have not benefited from the oil. They got poverty, unemployment, and a lack of services in return.\u201d<\/p>\n
General Abou El Baloul, who holds the First-Class Medal of Courage and other military achievements, was born in Keilak, South Kordofan. He has been deputy chairman of the Legislative Council of West Kordofan State and head of the Security and Defence Committee of the Legislative Council of South Kordofan State, before South Kordofan was split into West and South Kordofan in 2013. He deplored what happened to the army.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the regime\u2019s adoption of military and security solutions, the Sudanese armed forces have been pushed into absurd wars to keep the regime\u2019s grip on power. The army forces have not been adequately prepared for these wars. Most of the efforts and financial means supposed to be spent on the army, an official institution, have been spent on paramilitary and security forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
The General appealed to his colleagues in the Sudanese army \u201cnot to shed a drop of blood for the benefit of this regime\u201d. \u201cThey should keep to the oath of honour they vowed to protect the country, and protect Sudan from the dangers posed by the NCP regime\u201d.<\/p>\n
File photo: President Omar El Bashir inspects army troops during a parade in Khartoum<\/em><\/p>\n