Sudan belongs to the people, not army - Museveni
KAMPALA - Ugandan President Museveni has renewed calls for a ceasefire in Sudan and warned the army against personalising the country at war.
He made the remarks after meeting Special Envoy of the Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council in Sudan, Dafallah AlHaj Ali, at State House in Entebbe, where the two are said to have discussed the conflict in the northern African country where two rival generals are fighting for control.
“A ceasefire is critical to allow peace for people to elect their leaders as owners of the country. The country does not belong to the Sudan Army, it belongs to the people,” Museveni tweeted after Wednesday’s meeting.
Sudan was plunged into the latest round of fighting on April 14 between the country’s national army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy and fellow coup leader, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo “Hemedti.”
The former allies disagreed on plans to integrate Hemedti’s RSF fighters into the mainstream Sudanese army, which would reportedly weaken al-Burhan militarily and politically.
The warring sides have repeatedly violated ceasefire agreements, with neither side yielding to truce calls made by the United Nations, the African Union and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) among others.
International media reported explosions in Khartoum on Wednesday morning, with hundreds of deaths and thousands being displaced.
Museveni also cautioned the Sudanese leadership against sectarianism. “I reiterated my earlier advice that they should do away with politics of identity and concentrate on politics of interest.”.
On April 17, he condemned the fighting as a misuse of force that undermines all progress made through dialogue over the last many months.
“We cannot keep papering over mistakes of unprincipled politics year after year,” State House quoted him in a statement issued following an emergency virtual Igad member states’ meeting.
Kampala, Nairobi and Addis Ababa have been keeping tabs on the delicate security situation in Sudan, with heightened concerns of the conflict spilling over into the region. –