By Faith Nyasuguta
On Sunday, Sudan’s loftiest general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan penned a deal with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to reinstate the coveted transition to civilian rule about a month after a military takeover.
The agreement signed in the Khartoum presidential palace contains 14 points and it gives provision for Hamdok to be reinstated as prime minister and release of civilian leaders.
Hamdok has been detained by the military since October 25 when General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared a state of emergency and overthrew the government, a move that lifted a two-year transition to civilian rule and attracted international condemnation.
“The house arrest of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has been lifted and the forces guarding his house have withdrawn,” an official said.
The move comes after a Sunday announcement by mediators that the army had reached an agreement to reinstate Hamdok as premier.
Among the key demands of the International community has been the return of Hamdok. He is a British-educated economist who has worked for the United Nations and African organisations.
The power grab in October sparked a series of street protests where 40 protesters lost their lives, medical sources say.
But as news of the development broke, hundreds of protesters again rallied against the military and the ensuing crackdown, witnesses said.
Meanwhile, the civilian block that initiated the anti-Bashir protests and penned a 2019 power-sharing deal with the military has turned down Sunday’s deal.
“We affirm our clear and previously declared position, that there is no negotiation, no partnership, no legitimacy for the coup,” the mainstream faction of the Forces for Freedom and Change said in a statement.
Witnesses reveal that demonstrators still gathered in downtown Khartoum, as well as in the eastern state of Kassala and the northern city of Atbara.
