Sudan PM appoints new ministers, names first woman to key cabinet post

July 27, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Prime Minister Kamil Idris appointed five ministers and three ministers of state on Sunday, rounding out a new government of independent professionals that includes the country’s first female minister of cabinet affairs.

The appointments, announced in a decree for what it called the “government of hope,” nearly complete a cabinet that Idris said would consist of 22 ministries staffed by independent professionals.

Lemia Abdel Ghaffar Khalafallah, the former Secretary-General of the National Population Council, was appointed Minister of Cabinet Affairs, the first woman to hold the post. She had been dismissed from her previous role in November 2019 by then-Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok as part of a move to remove officials from the ousted regime of Omer al-Bashir.

The new decisions include the appointment of Al-Mutasim Ibrahim, head of the University of Shendi’s council, as Minister of Energy. Ahmed al-Dirdiri Ghandour was named Minister of Digital Transformation and Communications.

Al-Tohami Al-Zain Hajar was reappointed as Minister of Education and National Pedagogy, a position he held in a previous government. Ahmed Adam Ahmed, a specialist in physical education and sports, was appointed Minister of Youth and Sports.

Three ministers of state were also named. Sulaima Ishaq, director of the unit for combating violence against women and children, was appointed Minister of State at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Welfare. Mohamed Nour Abdel Dayem, who served as Deputy Auditor General during the al-Bashir era, was named Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance.

Sudan’s Ambassador to China, Omer Siddig, was appointed Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Siddig is a veteran diplomat who previously served in Sudan’s missions to Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, and also served as the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.