By William Madouk
A paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo also known as Hemedti, has come under spotlight over illicit gold mining.
Sudan’s minister of minerals, Mr. Mohamed Basher Abdalla alleged that RSF has accrued wealth from gold smuggling, mainly sold to United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“The rebel, the so-called Rapid support forces (RSF) has already accumulated huge revenues by smuggling gold during the last four years,” claimed Basher.
Mr. Basher made the revelation during Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), a forum of value addition, cross border trade and manufacturing of factories meant to pave the way for better resources management.
“The United Arab Emirates is the leading receiver of illicit gold smuggled out of the Great Lakes region in general every year,” Mr. Basher continued.
He noted that illegal transfer of gold is facilitated in the United Arab Emirates due to the lenient global system which traces the origin of the gold from its country at the time of entering the international market rather than the source country.
The minister cited Hemedti’s group in coordination with UAE, waging war against Sudan government to implement what he terms a ‘dual agenda’ of getting grip on natural resources.
To explain the dual agenda, Mr. Basher stressed that both United Arab Emirates support RSF in order to seize the country’s resources such as gold, agricultural land, livestock and the Red Sea port.
Mr. Bashir continued that RSF’s objective was ethnic cleansing and replacing Indigenous citizens with Arabs from Western African countries like Chad, Central Africa, Mali and Niger, among others.
“The terrorist leaders of RSF with United Arab Emirates funding were able to recruit thousands of mercenaries even from some ICGLR member states, mostly without the knowledge of the authorities of these countries,” Mr. Bashir stressed.
He called on member states to outlaw RSF, sealed borders to stop the infiltration of mercenaries, weapons and warfare equipment to the Republic of Sudan by Hemedti group.
No. 1 Citizen Newspaper could not independently verify the claims.
However, last month the United States of America sanctioned the younger brother of the head of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa accusing him of leading the paramilitary group’s procurement of weapons and extending the country’s civil war.
The United Arab Emirates in the past, has denied arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in its war against the Sudanese army.
About the ICGLR
It is an inter-governmental body that brings together 11 countries in an attempt to bring about sustainable peace, security and development.
It was founded in the 1990s at the time of conflicts in DRC and the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Its members are Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, DRC, Kenya Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola and South Sudan.
In October last year, ministers from the Great Lakes region met in Nairobi to draft a plan to combat the illicit trade in minerals. Part of the strategy included plans to harmonize laws, formalize the mineral sector, increase transparency and create a database to trace the origin of minerals.