Yodit Admasu
African View, December 12, 2023
The 41st Extraordinary Assembly of the IGAD Heads of State and Government was held on Saturday, 9th December 2023, in Djibouti, on the current situation in Sudan and was jointly chaired by H.E. Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti and the Chairperson of the IGAD Heads of State and Government.
The Assembly was attended by; Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; President of the Republic of Kenya; President of the Federal Republic of Somalia; the Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council of the Republic of Sudan; Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of South Sudan; Minister for Defense and Veteran Affairs of the Republic of Uganda among other officials of IGAD, AU and UN.
During his deliberation on the current situation in Sudan, Dr. William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Chair of the IGAD Quartet Group of Countries commended the role played by the IGAD for co-facilitating the latest round of the Jeddah Talks that has continued to position IGAD at the forefront of ongoing mediation efforts.
Dr. Ruto thanked the delegation of the United Arab Emirates led by Hon. Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, State Minister for Foreign Affairs for their support and input to the discussions held by the IGAD Heads of State and Government regarding the peace process for the Republic of Sudan.
He urged the both conflicting parties in Sudan to immediately and unconditionally cease hostilities and allow unimpeded humanitarian access and protection of civilians in the affected areas and communities.
He also condemned unwarranted interventions and interferences by external state and non-state actors that fuel the conflict in Sudan.
The Communique also expressed the resolve to redouble efforts and work towards better and closer collaboration and coordination with all stakeholders to mobilize full political and diplomatic support for IGAD and the AU to effectively discharge their critical role in delivering a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict and for IGAD to convene on a quarterly basis to review the state of progress of the peace process in the Sudan;
The IGAD Quartet Group of Countries led by Dr. Ruto tasked the Executive Secretary of IGAD to present, within the shortest time possible to the IGAD Council of Ministers a candidate(s) for appointment as the IGAD Special Envoy to Sudan, reporting to the Executive Secretary, shall coordinate and lead IGAD mediation efforts in accordance with the IGAD Roadmap for the Peace Process in Sudan.
In a statement released by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan, the IGAD summit held in Djibouti is unacceptable as it does not represent what came out of the summit, and that the IGAD presidency and its secretariat should correct these misrepresentations.
The Foreign Ministry further stated in reference to what was issued by the IGAD Secretariat on behalf of the Heads of State and Government at the 41st Emergency Summit.
The Foreign Ministry stated that immediately after receiving the draft statement of the summit from IGAD, Sudan informed the IGAD secretariat that it had fundamental observations and reservations about the draft.
The Sudanese delegation noted that there were paragraphs inserted in the draft that were unjustified, in addition to the flawed wording of what was agreed upon on some important issues, as it did not reflect the truth of what was reached at the summit.
The Foreign Ministry’s statement added, “In clear violation of what the statute requires of issuing decisions by consensus among members, the Secretariat quickly issued a final statement without including the observations and reservations made by the Sudanese delegation.” Therefore, the statement further stated, Sudan does not consider this statement to represent what came out of the summit, and that it is meaningless until the IGAD presidency and its secretariat correct this.
Some of the observations made by the Sudanese delegation on the draft final statement were as follows:
· Delete the reference to the participation of the Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates in the summit, as that did not happen.
· Deleting the reference to the heads of IGAD holding consultations with the delegation of the dissolved Rapid Support militia, and this contradicts the truth, as the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, who is one of the heads of IGAD, did not participate or hear about the consultations with the representatives of the rebellion, knowing that the rebel delegation arrived on a plane.
· Correction of what was reported regarding the approval of the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council to meet with the leader of the rebellion. As it is conditional upon the approval of a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of the rebel forces from the capital.
· Delete the paragraph that refers to a phone call between the heads of IGAD and the rebel leader, as this call took place between the Kenyan president and the rebel leader after the end of the summit and therefore is not considered part of the summit’s work until it is referred to in the final statement.
· Amend the paragraph condemning foreign interference so that it does not include equality between the armed forces and the insurgency.
· Include a reference to the Arab Republic of Egypt presenting the “Sudan Neighboring Countries Initiative” in the paragraph that talks about initiatives to resolve the crisis in Sudan.
· Stipulating the necessity of consulting with the Government of Sudan and obtaining its approval in any effort to resolve the crisis.
The statement released by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan concluded by stating, “Dr. Since none of these observations were taken into account, the statement lacks consistency and is therefore not considered a legal document of IGAD.”
Source: IGAD, MoFA- Sudan
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