NOVEMBER- DECEMBER 2021

COMMENT
Removing Hamdok from power
in Sudan is a serious mistake
Desmond Davies
THE soldiers in Sudan are up
to their old tricks again. In
October, the army men who
were actually part of a power-sharing
civilian/military administration headed by
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok decided
to grab power for themselves.
They did not even give Hamdok a
chance to show the Sudanese people what
he could do after 30 years of military
dictator Omar al Bashir who was ousted
in 2019. Hamdok was a Deputy Executive
Secretary and Chief Economist at the
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
in Addis Ababa when he was whisked
to Khartoum to head the post-al Bashir
administration.
This was a strategically sound move.
Having met him and interviewed him, I
know that he was a good choice as leader
of a rather jaded Sudan. A country that
had been battered from pillar to post by
the international community because of
human rights and war crimes issues.
Apart from that, after the independence
of South Sudan the country lost a huge
chunk of its territory and a massive
amount of oil reserves that went to the
South. But Hamdok was ready to take
up the challenge of reviving a moribund
country.
As I write this, the negotiations are
continuing to resolve this rather unseemly
behaviour by the Sudanese soldiers. An act
that is so odious, even by their own base
standards.
Hamdok was the best thing to
happen to Sudan when he was asked
to become Prime Minister two years
ago. In 2016, I attended a conference
in Addis Ababa organised by Wilton
Park, a UK government-funded strategic
forum focusing on international security,
prosperity and justice. The meeting was
the second organised by Wilton Park on
peacebuilding in Africa.
Hamdok was there. He grabbed my
attention whenever he intervened during
the discussions. While the academics
present were skirting around the issues,
Hamdok was straight to the point. He
didn’t mince his words as he presented his
vision for a conflict-free and prosperous
Africa.
I liked his ideas. So, when we had
a break, I asked him whether I could
interview him for my podcast, Talking
Africa, for the African Leadership Centre’s
Pan-African Radio, of which I am one of
the editors.
The 30-minute interview gave
Hamdok the chance to expand on the ideas
he had contributed during the conference.
It was a rich discussion.
‘
Today, election is the name
of the game, and no coup can
survive
’
Naturally, the issue of lifting Africans
out of poverty was my first question, given
his senior role at the ECA. I mentioned the
fact that at the turn of the century Africa
was recording five per cent economic
growth, which should at least help to lift
people out of poverty.
Hamdok agreed that it was a
“remarkable success”. But he was not sure
that this was making a difference to the
lives of ordinary Africans.
He told me that this growth “has
an extremely important challenge
to its quality. It has not addressed
issues of reducing poverty, addressing
unemployment. And in fact, in many
places it might have contributed to
inequality”.
Hamdok went on: “So what is
important for us moving forward is to
address the quality of this growth, in the
sense that we would like to see growth
that contributes jobs, particularly decent
jobs. And this can only happen if you
address this through industrialisation,
through value addition that would create
those decent jobs and embrace the broader
agenda of Africa’s transformation.”
On the issue of leadership in Africa,
Hamdok acknowledged it was “a key
factor in the development process…”,
adding: “We need, in Africa, leadership
that is committed, visionary; leadership
that has a project for society, where it takes
development as a key leading parameter,
and development becomes hegemonic in
the sense that society at large takes it and
runs with it.
“And in that sense, it transcends an
individual. So, once you lay the foundation
for this, and the nation takes off, then
it becomes a society project,” Hamdok
added.
Yes, indeed, Hamdok is not one of the
many individualistic leaders in Africa who
do not know whether they are coming or
going. He recognised that development
in Africa would only be achieved when
members of society as a whole – especially
young people – are fully involved.
Hamdok wants youngsters in Africa
to be given space to prosper. “This is the
future of the continent. If you look around.
the average age of the leadership on this
continent is over 65, probably 70.
“This cannot take us anywhere. The
future of this continent is going to be led
by these young people So we have to
nurture them. We have to give them the
opportunity to develop,” Hamdok said,
adding that the youth had “very bright
ideas”.
It’s not surprising that it’s young
Sudanese who are leading the protests
against the rebellious soldiers. They would
do well to reinstate the ousted Prime
Minister.
As Hamdok told me five years ago,
in the previous 30 years there was a
proliferation of military dictatorships in
Africa. This was no longer the case, he
added. “Today, election is the name of the
game, and no coup can survive.”
Let’s see what the soldiers do. AB
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