Sudan’s military pulled a shocker after plotting a successful bloodless coup and subsequently arresting the prime minister of the transitional government and other members of the cabinet. 

The defunct head of Sudan Sovereign Council Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had declared a state of emergency and dissolution of council and government on Monday.

Lt. Gen. Fattah was on a fire-fighting mission with an assurance that the entire government and that the military would continue with the democratic transition until the power is handed to a civilian government in the 2023 general elections.

While the military claims to have some tangible reasons to justify the power takeover, there are irrefutable facts that the coup poses threats to Sudan’s transition to democracy as well as the peace in the region, particularly in neighbouring South Sudan. 

Since yesterday, Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok is reported to have been detained and put under house arrest along with members of his cabinet and other civilian leaders. Their whereabouts are unknown. The detention has triggered anti-military demonstrations across various places in Khartoum and the Sudanese towns in the outskirts. Twitter was awash with a trendy #FreeHamdok on Tuesday.

Ramifications

The removal of Dr Hamdok from his position complicates issues for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which Hamdok leads and has been championing for regional peace. 

Being that Hamdok is a guarantor to the Revitalised Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan, recognised by the international body, there is the likelihood that some negative impacts could be noted on the implementation of the agreement.

This is because the military junta has received nothing but international condemnation and this means their role in the implementation of the revitalised peace agreement may be considered meaningless. 

The takeover in Khartoum has drawn condemnation from the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union. The world did not expect another coup in Sudan after just two years when the protesters forced the removal of long-time autocrat former president Omar al-Bashir. After the removal of Al-Bashir, the international community was expecting progress towards democracy which was possible. In addition, since the removal of President Al-Bashir, the ties between South Sudan and Sudan have significantly improved and the two countries had already finalised the plan to reopen borders in a bid to ease the movement of people and goods. 

The South Sudan and Sudan Joint Borders Demarcation Commission has just held its 9th meeting in Juba and the body was moving in the right direction to resolve the lasting border conflicts between the two countries. 

Unfortunately, all this progress seems to have been thrown into doubt because no one knows about the vision of the military leaders.

Thus, for the sake of peace in the region and its neighbours, the coup in Sudan was really unnecessary and it happened just weeks before the military was supposed to hand the leadership of the council that runs the country over to civilians. So, the dissolution of the council by the military junta is threatening the country’s shaky progress towards democracy and this could lead to another full-scale war in Sudan. 

The IGAD also needs to be serious because since on Monday the body has not issued any substantive condemnation statement on Sudan’s coup and this may likely encourage the practice in the region. The IGAD must always act quickly like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) when crisis rises for the sake of peace, economic and security in the region.