Yusuf Abu Rouf, a member of Sudan’s National Legislative Assembly has accused elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces of grabbing land belonging to the Rufaa al Hawa nomadic tribe in Sennar state.
The MP, who is also the paramount nazir of the Rufa’a al Hawa tribe, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that a group of soldiers came and settled in Kokari village without permission last week.
He claimed that those soldiers tried to annex pastoralists’ territory to the army. When local authorities found out about this, they contacted the army headquarters.
The lawmaker stated that he obtained documents that prove their ownership of the land since 1910.
“If need be I would raise a complaint to the national government in Khartoum in order to protect the rights of the nomads,” he noted.
The parliamentarian also echoed earlier complaints that no assistance was provided to the pastoralists in the state since they returned back from South Sudan owing to violence there earlier this year.