Staff Writer

Speaking to Radio Islam International, Stephanie Walters, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Security Studies, sought to contextualise the Sudanese coup and its aftermath. She noted how there had been tensions between the military and civilian components of the transitional council from 2019, following Omar Al Bashir’s ouster, but that this had increased in recent months, leading to the military’s abrogation of the transitional agreement. In addition, she noted the heavy-handed nature of the military’s response to protests over the coup, which have so far killed over 40. Significantly, she, like many others, cautioned against Hamdok’s reinstatement and his acceptance of supposed military guarantees, especially since no real way forward has been documented and no formal guarantees have been provided. However, she argued that the will of the Sudanese needs to be admired, especially their strength to protest, saying, “But again, as I said at the beginning, I have great respect for the way in which the Sudanese people are engaging in pressure for better government for themselves.”

Regarding the 35 000 documents, which constitute the so-called Congo Papers, which exposed around $138 million in corruption undertaken by the Kabila family, Walters expressed her concern that it was a conglomeration of external journalists and organisations that had had to expose this. Congolese institutions, like most on the continent, are woefully ill-equipped, incapacitated, incompetent, and lack the political will to act against corruption, even in cases where evidence is strong. “What we’re not seeing is that Congolese institutions are able to do this kind of investigation of fraud, investigating corruption, and then to prosecute it. That’s really what we need in order to put an end to this kind of corruption, this kind of siphoning off of public funds, which means that things like education and health care don’t get supported. Walters did note that this was but a drop in the ocean of the corruption and fraud that currently besets the continent, and that evidence that that was continuing under Chesekedi was both concerning and emblematic.