KHARTOUM -

“If it were not for the street, the committee to dismantle the regime of June 30, 1989, and recover public funds since its establishment, would have been dissolved,” this is how the committee member responded to the campaign the committee is facing, even from allies in the ruling coalition and parties in the transitional government.

The committee - which is concerned with removing the social, economic and political facades of the former regime - raises intense controversy because it is accused of combining the powers of the prosecution and the judiciary, and it moves from political grounds according to the recognition of its leaders.

The controversy over the committee returned to the fore after leaks revealed by the General Intelligence, related to the involvement of employees and police officers assigned to work in the committee in suspicions of extortion and corruption, suspicions that the committee acknowledges and attributes others to hostile campaigns.

And based on accusations of loyalty to the former regime that ruled the country for 30 years, since its formation - in December 2019 - the dismantling committee has recovered dozens of companies and real estate, and dismissed thousands of state employees.

Jibril Ibrahim: Gathering the powers of the prosecution and the police in the hands of the dismantling committee is "absolute power that leads to absolute corruption" (Al-Jazeera)

A commission, not a commission

But the committee - which is based in the old parliament building in central Khartoum - was provoked by a campaign that bypassed the supporters of the former regime affected by its decisions to parties in the government and its political incubator.

The National and Communist Ummah Parties and some of the movements that signed the peace agreement have declared reservations about the work and performance of the dismantling committee.

The Secretary-General of the National Umma Party, Al-Wathiq Al-Barir, told Al-Jazeera Net that "the party is with the dismantling of the former regime and its deep state, but in accordance with the rule of law and in a manner that gives every citizen the right to a fair judiciary and appeal."

Al-Barir affirms that his party has the option to form the anti-corruption commission stipulated in the constitutional document, and to cancel the “Empowerment Removal” committee.

He points out that the Umma Party presented a vision to the Prime Minister that requested an acceleration of the formation of the commission to carry out the tasks of combating corruption, recovering public funds, and dismantling the deep state.

He continues, "There are initiatives and a committee in the Council of Ministers discussing the fate of the dismantling committee. The revolutionary situation under which the committee operates is outdated, and we are now a state of law."

Opponents from inside the house

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and the leader of the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement, Dr. Jibril Ibrahim, stands by the opponents of the "Removal of Empowerment" committee, and the minister and the committee have previously exchanged accusations regarding the receipt of confiscated funds.

Ibrahim said in a recent television interview that bringing together the powers of the prosecution, the police, the judiciary, the appeal and security in the hands of the dismantling committee is "an absolute power that leads to absolute corruption."

He stressed that the way in which the committee works is "a cause for corruption", and that its law is unsuccessful in a government that came through a revolution that raises the slogan of justice.

In return, the committee received the conditional support of Yasser Arman, the political advisor to the prime minister, who wrote on his Facebook account, saying, "The remnants are terrified of the Empowerment Removal Committee. Removing empowerment means removing (salvation) and the parallel state, and removing empowerment is a task that must continue unabated and without retreat." .

However, Arman called for reforming the committee's approach, not using it to settle accounts, keeping it away from suspicions of corruption, and consolidating the building of the rule of law.

Wajdi Saleh is counting on the street in the face of the campaigns against the committee (Al-Jazeera Net)

The committee's survival is conditional on restructuring

Jurist Al-Moez, His Holiness, stresses the survival of the dismantling committee, and the provision of the necessary protection and support for it, but in return, the committee must be restructured to be a strong institution that operates according to a clear approach.

He does not see any conflict between the work of the Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission once it was established.

The Commission can be an eye on the dismantling committee and issues decisions referred to it, stressing that the dismantling of a system that lasted 30 years needs this committee.

Hazrat confirms to Al Jazeera Net that the committee is a legal entitlement stipulated in the constitutional document, and it is necessary to differentiate between the persons and the committee, provided that the committee does not protect any employee or police officer working with it who has been involved in corruption.

Following leaks, the “Empowerment Removal” committee reported that it was investigating people, some of whom belong to the committee, accused of blackmailing a Chinese company in Sudan, and referred two officers, one of whom works with the committee, to investigation on charges of moving huge funds into their bank accounts.

Quiet despite the noise

Despite the uproar about the work of the dismantling committee, the picture inside its headquarters seems different, despite the tight security in entering.

Committee member Orwa Al-Sadiq seemed indifferent to the campaigns against the committee, telling Al Jazeera Net that they are working silently to announce important decisions within days.

According to committee member Salah Manna, the committee finished preparing about 200 decisions a month ago, which will be announced soon.

It will extend to the civil service and companies as well as a large service project looted his money.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, he refers to the multiplicity of corruption networks in all sectors, but there is a focus on the committee because it is the only lung of the revolution, as he put it, explaining that it was the committee that revealed corruption suspicions about the two police officers through a financial analysis that included dozens of bank accounts.

Manna reveals that the committee requested an intelligence unit from the security police to review the committee members and 900 police delegates for the committee.

Yasser Arman called for reforming the committee's approach and not using it to settle accounts and keep it away from suspicions of corruption (Al-Jazeera)

Intelligence and information sheet

And on the suspicion of the commission’s employees’ involvement in blackmailing the Chinese company, the commission expresses its astonishment at the leakage of a letter to the intelligence since last March, addressed to the attorney general, without putting it in the picture.

According to information within the committee, it investigated more than once the owners of the Chinese company months ago about being blackmailed with guarantees of protection, but they denied this.

The committee was not satisfied with that, but also requested information from the intelligence that has business links with the Chinese company, but the intelligence has been silent despite conducting investigations into the matter since October 2020.

Committee member Omar Saleh says that the committee has 396 members who need protection from corruption because they work in a field full of temptations and blackmail.

He denies to Al Jazeera Net the commission's overriding the powers of the prosecution, the police and the judiciary, saying that the committee has the powers of the prime minister and the minister of justice, as well as the possibility of requesting delegation of the powers of the attorney general, which is not done now because there is a prosecution assigned to the committee that enjoys independence.

under street protection

A member of the dismantling committee, Wajdi Saleh, shows reliance on the street only, in light of the campaigns against the committee, even from the closest relatives, allies in the government and the ruling coalition.

Regarding the possibility of the committee’s steadfastness, he says, “We are working on the street. Without it, the committee would have been dissolved a year and a half ago. Now they are waiting for opportunities to dissolve it, but there is no turning back.”

The man does not hide his dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Finance, which he says did not manage the assets and the recovered funds to thwart the dismantling committee.

Earlier, the Minister of Finance dissolved the committee for receiving the recovered assets through the dismantling committee, while the Sudan Holding Company, formed by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, has not yet started its duties.

Abdullah Hamdouk mediates the members of the Empowerment Removal Committee during his visit to its headquarters last June (Al-Jazeera Net)

Wagdy Saleh admits the difficulties faced by the members of the committee, including the weak budget, even though it requested a budget of 28 million pounds (about 63,000 dollars) per month for 396 employees, in addition to operating expenses.

Monthly incentives are allocated to members of the committee's higher decision-making in the range of 20,000 pounds (45 dollars), and for the rest of the members 7,000 pounds (16 dollars).

According to the leaders of the dismantling committee, the committee is a new "pattern" in Sudan in terms of tasks and law, so its work will not be easy, but will be surrounded by pressure and conspiracies.

A meeting between the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) and the dismantling committee on Tuesday evening approved the establishment of a workshop this September in order to transfer some international experiences in the field of institutional examination and purification.