UK Foreign Secretary Meets Leaders in Sudan, as Experts Urge Action on Military Capture of Industrial and Economic Sectors

January 21, 2021 (London / Washington, DC) – UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is meeting with leaders in Khartoum today. Experts at The Sentry, an investigative and policy team co-founded by George Clooney and John Prendergast, welcome this trip, and urge the Foreign Secretary to underscore the need to address corrupt military and security sector control over wide swathes of the Sudanese economy and key industrial sectors.

Suliman Baldo, Senior Advisor at The Sentry, said: "Visits by Secretary Raab and other members of the Friends of Sudan should provide a powerful reminder to the transitional authorities in Sudan that the key to ending Sudan's economic crisis is in their own hands. There is little chance of ending the chronic economic crisis in the country without the transitional government taking firm measures to address the corrupt capture of large sectors of industry and the economy. Essential reforms include immediately ending the exemption of Sudan's security agencies and their corporate holdings from the country's Single Treasury Account system and expediting the digital transformation of tax collection through a single digital window that eliminates the layers of corruption that currently thrive in a multitude of government departments."

Oliver Windridge, Advisor at The Sentry, said: "Foreign Secretary Raab’s visit to Sudan demonstrates the important role the UK can play in supporting the future of Sudan. Much has been achieved since the revolution that overthrew three decades of kleptocratic rule, but much more is needed in order to ensure Sudan peacefully and safely transitions to a civilian-led, democratic country, fulfilling its promise to the brave Sudanese people. Foreign Secretary Raab must ensure the UK continues to fully support the Sudanese leadership to implement much needed economic reforms, including the removal of security forces' ownership of parastatal companies."

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About The Sentry
The Sentry is an investigative and policy team that follows the dirty money connected to African war criminals and transnational war profiteers and seeks to shut those benefiting from violence out of the international financial system. By disrupting the cost-benefit calculations of those who hijack governments for self-enrichment, we seek to counter the main drivers of conflict and create new leverage for peace, human rights, and good governance. The Sentry is composed of financial investigators, international human rights lawyers, and regional experts, as well as former law enforcement agents, intelligence officers, policymakers, investigative journalists, and banking professionals. Co-founded by George Clooney and John Prendergast, The Sentry is a strategic partner of the Clooney Foundation for Justice.

Learn more at www.TheSentry.org.