Sudan is yet another narrative of people wanting democracy because they are weary of military rule, another story of protests and human deaths. The African nations are slightly different from other nations in that they have had less homogeneity among themselves over the period. These nations' ethnic divides have frequently caused disruptions, and when this is combined with a governing battle with the military, something highly dangerous transpires. Sudan is located in a volatile region, surrounded by the Red Sea, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa. Several of its neighbors have been impacted by political changes and violence, notably Ethiopia, Chad, and South Sudan. Conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region has forced tens of thousands of people into eastern Sudan and prompted military tensions in contested agricultural fields along the border since late last year.
The Sudanese prime minister was placed under house arrest by Sumi troops as part of the country's military coup, raising the African record to four in a very short period of time. Sudanese history also does not inspire trust, with the previous leader, Omar Al Bashir, serving as a colonel in the army when he overthrew the government in 1989, conducting a civil war against the ethnic minority of Dafuri. In 2019, he was accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of five crimes against humanity and two war crimes. Following that, he was deposed in a military coup sponsored by another TMC and an Arab military organization from western Sudan, itself accused of various atrocities. Approximately 100 individuals were killed as a result of the demonstration.
The military and the civilian government reached an agreement to create a sovereign council, a joint rule, and to draught the constitutional arrangements. Nonetheless, the military dictator, Abdullah Fattah AL-Burhan, was in charge of most internal and international policy matters. Al Burhan and his military supporters were not interested in dispersing authority, and on October 17th, the military retook control, also leading the public demonstration in order to claim popular support in the case. Sudan's administration is already under great strain, with debts reaching $1.25 billion, nearly six times more, inflation reaching 400%, and no clear leader in the country causing instability. To avoid public demonstrations, the October coup caused internet outages, shuttered airports, and stopped roadways. Al-Burhan declared an open state of emergency on national television after destroying the traditional government and sovereign council. The tale resulted in pro-democracy demonstrators assembling outside the palace and military shooting bullets, killing at least ten people. The attempted coup is still being condemned by the world community. The United States has ceased funding, and the UN Security Council has convened an emergency meeting to consider the situation.
A 2020 peace agreement also included rebel groups in the transition, which was an important element of the process but added new factions with different interests. All of these tensions had been building in recent months, as pressure mounted on the military to honor its promise to give over control to a civilian-led administration. It also came amid calls for greater government accountability, particularly on security-force abuses, such as those tied to a 2019 killing of peaceful protestors. The military most certainly felt compelled to safeguard its interests — both political and, more crucially, economic — as a result of being entrenched in power for decades. "They simply didn't want to give up it," Woldemariam explained. They felt that this was their last chance to hang on."
What hasn't changed is that Sudan has struggled to transition to democracy, that ethnic groups have continued to fight throughout time, and that even after 70 years of independence, the Sudanese people have experienced 16 attempted coups, the third-most in the world, after Bolivia and Argentina.
