Darfur Regional Authority

Darfur Regional Authority
Darfur Regional Authority; السلطة الإنتقالية الإقليمية لدارفور; al-slTa al-intqalia al-iqlimia al-darfor
Capital	Al-Fashir
Official languages	Arabic
Demonym	Darfuri
Government	Interim regional administration
Establishment
Area
Population

The Darfur Regional Authority (Arabic: السلطة الإنتقالية الإقليمية لدارفور‎‎, al-slTa al-intqalia al-iqlimia al-darfor) is an interim governing body for the Darfur region of the Republic of Sudan.^[1] It was established as the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority in April 2007 under the terms of the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement ^[2] signed in May 2006.^[3]

The current authority was reformed following the signing of a new Darfur Peace Agreement on 14 July 2011 which included provisions for a regional authority with both executive and legislative functions.^[4] The reform process began on 20 September 2011 when Tijani Sese was named as chairman of the new authority and was completed on 8 February 2012 when the authority assumed its full functions.^[5] The authority is based in Al-Fashir in North Darfur.

History

A Transitional Darfur Regional Authority was established in April 2007 as part of the Darfur Peace Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi. The agreement was an attempt to resolve the Darfur conflict that had been ongoing from February 2003. The agreement was only signed by one rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement, and rejected by the Justice and Equality Movement, resulting in continuation of the conflict.

TDRA was composed of six commissions amongst which Darfur Reconstruction and Development Fund (DRDF) represented the back bone of the Authority. Abdelgabar Dosa was the founding President of the DRDF. The Commission had prepared a comprehensive and significant reconstruction and development plan of seven years 2008–2015 to be implemented in the region with all projects prepared meeting the international standards. In 2008 as the government failed to fulfil its obligations to allocate the seed money ($700 millions) agreed upon in the agreement Abdelgabar Dosa resigned and is living as a refugee in the UK.

In December 2010, the Sudan Liberation Movement withdrew from the peace agreement and the regional authority. Its leader Minni Minnawi fled to Southern Sudan and has since been dismissed as Senior Assistant to the President of Sudan and as Chairman of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority.^[6] The new Chairman Shartai Jaafar Abdel Hakam subsequently dismissed 10 other members of the Sudan Liberation Movement from the authority.^[7]

In June 2011, a new Darfur Peace Agreement was proposed by the Joint Mediators at the Doha Peace Forum. This new agreement was intended to supersede the 2006 Abuja Agreement and included provisions for a Darfuri Vice-President and an administrative structure that includes both the states (as part of the process, two additional states were to be created in January 2012 within Darfur) and a strategic regional authority to oversee Darfur as a whole.^[8] The new agreement was signed by the Government of Sudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement on 14 July 2011.^[9] The Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement did not sign the new document but have three months in which to do so if they wish. The transition process towards a new authority began on 20 September 2011 when Tijani Sese was named as its chairman by the President of Sudan.^[10] He was formally sworn in as chairman in October 2011 which was followed by the other executive members being appointed in January 2012. The two new states (East Darfur and Central Darfur) were also created in the Darfur region at the same time, bringing the total to five. The new authority assumed its full functions on 8 February 2012.^[11]

Following the Darfur status referendum held in April 2016, the DRA will be dissolved in July 2016. It's assets will be handed over to the Office of the President of Sudan and the commissions established as part of the Darfur peace Agreement will report directly to the President. ^[12]

Structure

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The 2011 Darfur Peace Agreement contained provisions for an administrative structure for Darfur that includes the three states (raised to five states from January 2012) and a strategic authority to oversee the region as a whole.^[13] The regional authority it proposed consists of both executive and legislative organs which are known as the Darfur Executive and the Darfur Council.

Darfur Executive

The Darfur Executive is led by an Executive Chairperson and also includes an Executive Deputy-Chairperson, Darfur state governors, ministers and heads of ad hoc Darfur commissions. Leader of the Liberation and Justice Movement, Tijani Sese, is the chairperson of the authority.^[14] The vice chair is appointed by the central government.

Executive members

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Incumbent	Office
Tijani Sese	Executive Chairperson
Yousif Tibin	Governor of Central Darfur
Abdul-Hamid Musa Kasha	Governor of East Darfur
Osman Mohamed Yousif Kibir	Governor of North Darfur
Hammad Ismail Hammad Abdul-Karim	Governor of South Darfur
Yousif Al-Shenbali	Governor of West Darfur
Amna Haroun Muhammed Ali	Minister of Finance and Economics^[15]
Osman Ahmed Fadul Wash	Minister of Technology, Development and Capacity-Building^[16]
Abdul Hamid Ahmed Amin	Justice and Reconciliation Commissioner^[17]
Azhari Shatta	Voluntary Return, Resettlement and Compensation Commissioner^[18]

Leadership

Tenure	Incumbent	Party
23 April 2007 - 5 December 2010	Minni Minnawi	Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
5 December 2010 – 20 September 2011	Shartai Jaafar Abdel Hakam	National Congress Party
20 September 2011 – Present	Tijani Sese	Liberation and Justice Movement

Darfur Council

The Darfur Council will be made up of 66 Council Members drawn from the armed movements and the Darfur state legislatures. The Council met for the first time in January 2013 in Nyala, South Darfur.^[19]

Permanent status of Darfur

The permanent status of the Darfur region was determined by a referendum held in April 2016 in which the people of Darfur had the choice between "the creation of a Darfur Region composed of the three states" (there are now five states), with a constitution and regional government, or the retention of the status quo, with the Darfur region divided between several states.^[20]^[21]^[22] The referendum resulted in a retention of the status quo. ^[23]

References

External links