Sale and smuggling of humanitarian relief items in Sudan implicate government employees, politicians and merchants
Merchants from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad and Central Africa reportedly arrived in Port Sudan purchased humanitarian relief from officials affiliated to Darfur Armed Movement led by Mini Minawe and Jibreel Ibrahim.
Kampala: Altaghyeer
Containers of intravenous solutions, mixed insulin, life-saving medicines, sterilizers and other medical relief items sent to Sudan, have been diverted to markets via brokers in the Federal Ministry of Finance, an owner of a pharmaceutical and medical equipment agency told Altaghyeer.
The businessman said many drugs displayed for sale in the market are labelled ‘free’ which prove their being parts of relief shipments.
Even sterilizers that entered the country after epidemics outbreak in Kassala and al-Gadarif States, east Sudan, are being sold in the open markets, he said, adding that the humanitarian assistance items are now found in states which were not affected by the war while these items are not found in the states in need for them.
The trader conceded that “I have dealt with colleagues in the field of my business who do not hesitate to buy and sell relief items. They are in contact with people who offer them medical products initially offered for free to patients by the United Nations and Gulf organisations in Qatar, UAE, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.”
Other sources explained that government employees, officials of armed movements, local and international brokers and traders are involved in such activities.
In one of Darfur’s states, the markets was inundated recently by huge quantities of relief materials displayed for sale, a merchant told Altaghyeer on condition of anonymity.
He said flow of relief materials to Darfur has been dwindling since the closure of Sinnar road- connecting west Sudan’s states with the central Sudan’s states- by the Rapid Support Forces three months ago. “But before that I used to deal with a government employee who buys good including relief items in Port Sudan, ships them to Darfur with all required official formalities met including payment of fees, invoices .. etc, and sells them in the markets”, the merchant said.
Suleiman Husham, a merchant in Kassala market, east Sudan, told Altaghyeer that selling of humanitarian aid items had become a normal practice. They are being sold openly at daylight paying no heed to presence of the authorities.
“Worse than this, they are being sold at high unaffordable prices”, he added.
Merchants from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad and Central Africa have reportedly arrived in Port Sudan city and bought humanitarian relief items from officials affiliated to the Darfur Armed Movements of Darfur’s Governor, Mini Minawe, and Minister of Finance Jibreel Ibrahim who have offices in affluent quarters of the city.
However, a source in the Ministry of Finance said the Ministry has nothing to do with the reception or distribution of the humanitarian assistance. The role of the ministry in this context is just to pay the custom, port and transportation fees.
Spokesman of the Civil Forces Alliance in East Sudan, Salih Ammar, said there are credible evidence on selling of relief materials in the markets. The assistance does not reach it’s intended recipients according to testimonies by grass roots organisations and activists at the displaced people shelters and camps, Ammar said.
Corruption is undertaken in Port Sudan, seat of the Sudanese army-led government, he said, where humanitarian assistance is manipulated or diverted to warring parties instead of the needy.
Ammar called on the donors to adopt transparent approaches that guarantee delivery of relief to the intended recipients emphasizing the need for participation of civil society and popular organisations in this process.
