In Africa, when it rains, it pours, and when it pours, a raging storm is never far away. For years, admirers and critics alike have been similarly confounded as to why a continent of such forceful promise continues to underperform.
Decidedly, a chief reason why Africa remains rooted to a spot is armed conflict – an endless cycle of vicious violence which continues to uproot families in many countries.
Since April, what initially rang out as a few gunshots which shattered the suspect serenity of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, has become a full-fledged conflict with consequent catastrophic costs on innocent Sudanese.
At the center of the unnerving unraveling of one of Africa’s most iconic countries -its largest by land mass – are two generals Abdel Fattah al- Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. While al-Burhan who is Commander of the Sudanese armed forces, stakes his claim because of being the country’s regular army chief, Dagalo leader of the rival Rapid Support Forces, appears a tool in the hands of external actors who are marked by their desperation to destabilize Sudan.
Both men can have no legitimate claim to power in Sudan. While al-Burhan is a product of the military coup of 2021,Hemeti is the leader of a rogue paramilitary group.
A country accustomed to turmoil, Sudan has long been troubled by internal strife as well as the inimical incursions and intrusions of those who seek the country’s mineral resources just as eagerly as they seek a front seat in its theater of serial conflicts which took in sessions from the now independent South Sudan for many years, and is currently finding horrifying viewing in the Darfur where renewed atrocities bring back haunting memories.
Just like Mali, and Burkina Faso, Sudan is swiftly showing the rest of Africa how counterproductive military interventions in power can be. Worse still, the chaos there holds grim opportunities for those interested in capturing the resources of their states.
Africa has seen a lot of these conflicts, but is strangely yet to learn hard lessons. Bad governance never fails to hold the door ajar for insecurity and instability to come in and further disrupt the lives of vulnerable people.
The conflict in Sudan is a prime example. The disastrous government of Omar al-Bashir had well laid the groundwork for instability and insecurity in the country before forceful pro-democracy protests forced him out of office in. He remains in incarceration today.
In 2021,the Sudanese military, long accustomed to power in the country and unsurprisingly uncomfortable about sharing it or being subordinate to civil authorities, launched a coup. From then, it was only a matter of time before swords were crossed in a country used to conflict.
About three thousand people have been killed and three million displaced. Fighting has forced people to cross the border into neighbouring Chad where refugee camps are threatening to implode with demands.
In the long troubled Darfur region of the country, a mass grave containing eighty-seven bodies was discovered, prompting the International Criminal Court to open investigations into possible war crimes.
For the rest of Africa, especially for those countries where the military is either in power or itching to take over power, the smoke rising from the fires burning in Sudan sends the wrong signal.
For countries where dictators have long posed as democrats, undermining democracy while supposedly protecting and promoting its core ideals, Sudan has become a study in how to destabilize a country when impulsive personal greed yields a power tussle.
As everyday Sudanese have been pushed to the brink by the conflict in their country, a great source of consternation and dread has been the inaction of the African Union and the international community as a whole.
There has been a flurry of condemnations and threats, but experience has shown that it usually stops at that. These threats because they lack teeth, sometimes have the effect of emboldening those who slaughter their people.
The conflict in Sudan shows that there is a lot of work to be done on the Continent. It must be unacceptable to every African and every well-meaning supporter of Africa and its long-suffering people that such senseless conflicts continue to roil Africa, setting back whatever development the continent has been able to strain.
Building peace is a long-term effort, just like sustainable development. To achieve both, however, requires that nothing should be allowed to stand in the way, especially men who’s every word and action spell danger and doom for those unfortunate to occupy the same spaces as they.
It may be easy for the world to ignore the catastrophe unfolding in Sudan, maybe because it is not a country in Europe or in America. But the truth remains that common humanity continues to ensure that what affects one affects others.
As a continent, Africa must again re-examine its priorities. It may be time to go after the men who strip it of dignity and development, whether they live on the continent or operate from other continents.
Image Credit: AP Photo/Associated Press
