Veteran Sudanese communist Suad Ibrahim Ahmed dies aged 78

December 29, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – A veteran leader and member of the Sudanese Communist Party’s (SCP) Central Committee, Suad Ibrahim Ahmed, has died on Sunday at the age of 78.

The late leader, who was among the first generation of women politicians in Sudan, was born in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman in 1935 and became the first woman to hold a position in the executive committee of Khartoum University Student Union (KUSU) in 1956.

She joined the SCP in 1957 and was among four women in its Central Committee which included 33 members.

The late leader was dismissed from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in the 1960’s for her leading role in the Nubian protests against the displacement of the residents of Wadi Halfa area in northern Sudan due to the construction of Egypt’s Aswan dam.

She worked as a full-time journalist at the “woman voice” magazine, lecturer at the institute of further studies at the University of Khartoum, and a consultant for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The late communist leader was known for championing women issues in Sudan and was nick-named “mother of the Nubian women”.

(ST)