Obituary : Mohamed Ibrahim Nugud
By Ahmed El Zobier
March 24, 2012 — Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim Nugud, the Secretary General of the Communist Party died on 22 March 2012, at age of 82 in London after long struggle with illness. He had suffered from brain tumor that was become difficult to remove surgically. Mr. Nugud was born in 1930 in Al Qitaina town south of Khartoum, and studied at Hantoub high secondary school, during his school period his colleagues including the late Sudan’s president Jaafar Numiri and the current Popular Congress Party leader Hassan al Turabi. He was admitted to Khartoum University in early 1950s, but dismissed for his political activities and then completed his studies in Czechoslovakia.
Nugud has been involved in politics since the early 1950s and has spent almost all his political career working underground. Following the Aboud regime (1958–64) he was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1965. He was appointed general secretary of the party after the failure of a counter coup d’état by communist officers in 1971, as result its leader Abd al-Khaliq Mahjub executed by Numiri’s regime. He then went into hiding from 1971 to 1985, and was arrested in 1989. In 1990 he was released under house arrest until 1994 and then again went into hiding till 2005.
After the 1985 uprising, the party introduced this new political leader for the first time in a rally at Khartoum University; many people admired his political humor, wit and self-effacement. Mr. Nugud was elected as Member of Parliament in 1986 representing Al Amarat & Aldiem constituency in Khartoum. His parliamentary performance was mesmerizing and amusing and people still remember his first statement about the Sudan budget, when he dissected with endearing Sudanese proverbs and anecdotes the proposed budget by Al Sadig Al Mahadi’s Government. He is known to be a pragmatic and shrewd political operator.
To his credit this veteran political leader proved to be an astute political survivor and is largely responsible, and of course with his party colleagues, for the Communist Party still being an integral part of the country’s political map. Although suffering from an ever-dwindling membership since 1989 the Party has earned the respect of the Sudanese in general and the other Sudanese political parties. The Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) that was founded in 1946, despite the elements remain one of the two most influential in Africa along with the South African Communist Party.
Many political leaders paid their respect to Mr Nugud, Kamal Omer from the Popular Congress Party described him as one of the greatest political leaders in Sudan, he pointed out that the secretary of the Communist Party through his wisdom was able to forge special relationship with the leader of the Popular Congress Party Dr. Hassan al-Turabi since the days of high secondary school, he managed in the last few years to reduce the hostility between the Islamists and the Communists, despite their ideological differences. Al Sadiq Al Mahidi, the Umma party leader said that Nugud’s departure left the country in desperate need for his wisdom. The National Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson describes him as a national figure that had contributed to the course of national struggle. The Democratic Unionist Party leader Ali Hussanien said he will be remembered as the champion of the oppressed.
The communist party announced yesterday that in 9 am on Sunday morning, the funeral procession will move from his home to the Communist Party headquarter office in Khartoum (2) and from there followed by a silent procession to Farouk cemetery to bury his body.
In personal note, I had interviewed Mr. Nugud for Sudan Tribune back in 2007, I was struck by his down-to-earth humility, the ability to distill complex ideas into simple explanations. His sense of Sudanese political history was unparallel, as someone witnessed the darkest and tragic moment of his party’s history in 1971 he remained hopeful. His answers were always papered with anecdotes enveloped in his unique endearing sense of humor. May his soul Rest in Peace.
The author is a Sudan Tribune journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]