Power struggle inside the Islamic Call Organization in Sudan
February 15, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The former ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan is slowly creeping in to take over the Islamic Call Organization (MADA) in Sudan, according to relief work activists who spoke to Sudan Tribune.
The 40+ years old organization was dissolved by a special governmental committee to dismantle the former Islamist regime formed following the overthrow of President Omer Hassan al-Bashir in April 2019. It was -and still is – widely viewed as a ‘Front Organization’ for Islamic movements inside and outside Sudan.
But a high court decision breathed life into the organization and reinstated it after overruling the government’s decision.
Recently MADA has conducted a shuffle in its board of trustees to install prominent NCP figures including former foreign minister Mustafa Osman Ismail who was picked to be in a newly created position of the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees. It is believed that Ismail is being groomed to lead the board at a later stage.
Ahmed Mohamed Adam, the former Humanitarian Aid Commissioner (HAC) during Bashir’s era, was chosen as the Secretary-General for MADA.
Other NCP figures included Salah al-Daak, al-Tayeb Badawi, Tariq Abdel-Fattah, Abdallah Faki, Abdel-Rahim Ali and Kamal Obaid, according to a list obtained by Sudan Tribune.
Obaid has stirred controversy in the past for vowing that Southern Sudanese will not be citizens of the north and will not be even allowed to get an injection at a hospital.
Why was MADA’s previous SG removed?
Mohamed Adam Arabi, an activist in the field of Islamic voluntary work and connected to MADA told Sudan Tribune that former Secretary-General Musa Al-Mak Kur, who is from South Sudan, was willing to continue serving as Secretary-General and made his wishes known to the board of trustees.
Kur suggested to the board that he could form a bridge of communication between north and south Sudan. But in the end, the majority voted in favour of Adam.
Al-Mak Kur is considered one of the most prominent southern leaders in the Islamic organization. Before the separation of South Sudan, he sided with the late leader of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Hassan al-Turabi when the Islamists fell out and split into two groups in 1999.
Control ‘behind the scenes’
The advisor in the area of humanitarian work and human rights Fateh al-Rahman al-Qadi told Sudan Tribune that the reshuffling with the MADA board was driven by a “hidden organizational authority”.
Al-Qadi said that the fact that appointments to MADA leadership positions are limited to the NCP figures indicates that the decision-makers in the hidden authority have their own consideration and plans.
He further claimed that a “secret organizing committee consisting of seven people wants to control the course of Islamic voluntary work in Sudan and is practising blatant interference in the work of organizations”.
The MADA, which was founded by the Sudanese Islamists in 1980, collected significant donations from the Gulf countries in the eighties to fund its activities. However, they confessed that this charitable group was also used to fund their political activities and the video of the June 30, 1989 coup had been recorded in its studio.
Other sources said that the ‘Islamic Movement’ led by ex-foreign minister Ali Karti entrusted former Sudan’s Vice-President Hasabo Abdel Rahman with the issue of Islamic humanitarian organizations. These sources suggested that Abdel Rahman is the one who pushed to install Adam as secretary-general due to their close links.
Mass dismissals within MADA
The overhaul at MADA didn’t stop at the top brass but expanded to include leaders of subsidiary organizations as well. Several members of the Board of Trustees were also dismissed during a virtual meeting including Abdel Jalil al-Nazir Alkaruri, Sharaf al-Din Ali Mukhtar and Kamal Rizk which triggered outrage and signs of growing conflict even within NCP figures inside MADA and not just NCP vs. PCP.
Another source who spoke to Sudan Tribune said that covert instructions were given to impose restrictions and harass certain figures who are active in the field of Islamic humanitarian work namely Abdel Ati Abdel-Khair, Mohamed Adam Arabi and Mohamed al-Nabhani al-Sheikh who were barred from entering MADA headquarters because of their affiliation with PCP.
A member of the MADA board by the name of Ahmed al-Mahi will file an appeal with the court questioning the legality of the recent organizational decisions.
“The decisions recently issued by the virtual meeting are not legitimate, as it is a meeting that lacks a quorum according to the appeal memorandum that Dr Ahmed al-Mahi intends to submit to the Sudanese authorities,” al-Qadi said.
Several MADA employees, who spoke to Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity, spoke of an atmosphere of frustration and demoralization among their ranks.
(ST)