Mo Ibrahim urges Sudan to uphold right to peaceful protest

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has urged the Sudanese government to uphold the rights of its citizens to protest peacefully and express their legitimate grievances.

In a press statement, the Foundation also expressed the need for calm and urges authorities to stop the spread of violence and prevent further instability within the country.

According to the statement, this will ensure that the Sudanese people are given a voice and space to exercise their democratic right to protest peacefully in a safe environment.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation said it was following the increasing concern of the recent political developments in Sudan.

It noted that the last Ibrahim Index of African governance, which was published in October last year detailed some deteriorating governance trends in the East African nation.

It said, Sudan featured in the bottom half of the rankings out of 54 African countries in political participation, democratic elections, capacity of election monitoring agencies and freedom of association and assembling among others.

Protests begun in Sudan on December 19, 2018 over worsening daily living conditions for people, including fuel shortages, increasing price of a loaf of bread and currency devaluation.