Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minawi said he has been holding private contacts with the Sumoud coalition led by former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok over prospects for political dialogue, while calling on Sudanese factions to abandon mutual distrust and work towards reconciliation.
Speaking at a seminar on divisions within the Rapid Support Forces, Minawi said the discussions with Sumoud had been taking place privately, including during late-night contacts, and that he preferred not to conduct the exchanges through the media.
Minawi said reconciliation would be essential to rebuilding Sudan but argued that forgiveness could not come at the expense of accountability.
“There can be no reconciliation without justice,” he said.
He urged Sudanese political and social forces to avoid what he described as attempts to deceive or belittle one another and called for greater humility in efforts to rebuild the country.
Minawi said all Sudanese should be treated equally and argued that understanding the country’s history was essential to avoiding past mistakes.
“Those who read history shape the future, and those who do not read it will make mistakes in the future,” he said, adding that Sudan’s history had not been adequately understood.
Minawi also criticised Sudan’s traditional political establishment, arguing that political parties had historically failed to put national interests first and had contributed to the crises facing the country.
He accused previous governments and political elites of steering Sudan towards outside agendas, presenting the current conflict as the culmination of long-standing failures within state institutions.
Referring to the outbreak of war on April 15, 2023, Minawi described the RSF’s actions as a rebellion and questioned the condition of Sudan’s army, state institutions and government structures at the time the conflict began.
He argued that the emergence and expansion of the RSF reflected deeper problems within Sudan’s security and military institutions.
Minawi also said Sudan was facing violations of its sovereignty across its territory and borders and cited what he described as an enormous displacement and refugee crisis. His reported figure of 33 million displaced people and refugees was presented as his own estimate.
He called for Sudanese forces aligned with the army to concentrate first on ending the war before moving towards a broader political process.
Minawi also called for an end to what he described as decades of betrayal, ethnic cleansing and the use of Sudanese communities against one another, saying the country needed a political settlement based on justice, reconciliation and equal citizenship.
