IGAD seeks to resolve Sudan's political crisis

A delegation from the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) visited Khartoum, Sudan on Monday to meet with Sudanese leaders and to follow up on the political situation in the country. 

The IGAD Executive Secretary, Workneh Gebeyehu, says they are in Sudan to meet with various political and civilian actors to find ways to resolve the political crises in the country.

The delegation arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum over the weekend and met with the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Abdul Fattah Al Burhan Monday and was briefed about the general situation.

Gebeyehu says IGAD will continue to support the Sudanese people during this difficult time, noting that the delegation intends to discuss with various local groups and parties ways to resolve the current political crises in Sudan. 

"While we are seeing the challenges that the people of Sudan are facing, even if we have other challenges in other parts of the region, we have to jump in and work with different actors in Sudan to curb the situation that is going on here in Sudan," he said.

Gebeyehu says Sudan is a member state of the organization and they will do everything they could to help Sudan resolve its political stalemate. 

IGAD is an eight-member economic bloc that brings together Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, South Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has been chairman of IGAD since November 2019.

"We cannot sit idle that the people of Sudan; our brothers and sisters are in a challenging area," he noted. "A lot of economic challenges and challenges of peace and security. So IGAD is determined to play a key role in this peace process." 

Gebeyehu encouraged Sudanese leaders saying, "IGAD is a Sudanese organization. We understand the position you have presented and want to see real steps that will ultimately help realize the aspirations of the people of Sudan.”

The IGAD delegation also met with the head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan, Volker Perthes, and representatives of the European Union and the Troika countries in Sudan.

More than three months after Sudan's 25 October takeover led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, defiant mass rallies called by the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Resistance Committees, demanding a restoration of the transition to civilian rule shows few signs of abating.