IGAD call for Sudanese leaders to meet within two weeks

January 18, 2024 (KAMPALA) – In an extraordinary meeting held in Kampala, Uganda today, the heads of state and government of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) urged the opposing Sudanese military leaders to convene within two weeks to discuss ways to end the ongoing nine-month conflict.

The meeting was boycotted by the Sudanese military-led government, which has previously suspended engagement with IGAD over the resolution of the Sudanese crisis. Despite the boycott, the IGAD leaders reiterated their call for a ceasefire and the resumption of dialogue and negotiation between the warring parties.

The East African bloc also affirmed its continued commitment to facilitating an all-inclusive peace process that includes all Sudanese stakeholders, the African Union (AU), and regional and international actors.

“The Republic of the Sudan does not belong to the parties to the conflict only but to the Sudanese people,” stated the IGAD leaders. “IGAD Member States have a primary responsibility to ensure the will of the people of the Sudan prevails.”

Recalling the commitment of the parties to the conflict to meet within 14 days, the IGAD leaders urged them to convene as soon as possible to address the root causes of the conflict and find a lasting solution.

In a previous effort to engage the head of the Sovereign Council and Commander in Chief of the Sudanese army Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo “Hemetti” in a ceasefire agreement, the IGAD scheduled a direct meeting between them on December 28, 2023. However, the RSF leader declined to attend the meeting, requesting the participation of IGAD leaders in the discussions.

Following IGAD’s decision to use the meeting on the Somali dispute with Ethiopia to gather the rival leaders, al-Burhan refused to attend the Kampala meeting and suspended dealing with the East African bloc. This was in response to the invitation extended to the RSF leader to attend a meeting of the IGAD leaders as well as Sudan’s claim that it had not been consulted over the meeting.

It remains unclear whether the head of the Sovereign Council in Sudan will consider this new invitation or reject it. Additionally, the bloc must reach an agreement with the belligerents on the format of the meeting, as the RSF leader insists on the participation of IGAD leaders while al-Burhan rejects it.

The RSF leader met with the IGAD leaders after the end of the summit. Also, no statement was issued about this meeting.

IGAD also directed its secretariat, in coordination with the AU Commission, to revise the Roadmap for the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of the Sudan that was adopted at the 14th Ordinary Session of the IGAD Heads of State and Government. The roadmap is to be revised with clear timelines and within one month to convene a Sudanese-owned and Sudanese-led process towards a democratic government in Sudan.

(ST)