The revolution has been betrayed and the humiliating exit of Omar Bashir ushers in the very possibility of a Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemedti’ presidency. Although he is the deputy head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC), observers see Hemedti, as he is popularly known, is the man pulling the strings on which direction the country will take.
So who is this man Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo?
Hemedti was born in the mid 70s. Records put his year of birth between 1974 or 1975.
He attended school upto third grade.
He was in the business of trading camels.
In 2003, Dagalo became the leader of the dreaded Janjaweed during the war in Darfur.
Although he has distanced himself from atrocities committed by soldiers under his command, Dagalo has maintained innocence.
Rapid Support Forces
In 2013, the Rapid Support Forces (RFS) brought together former Janjaweed groups of fighters under the leadership of Dagalo. RFS was effectively deployed by the Sudanese Government to squash anti-government insurgency activities in the war in Darfur. Following attacks by the Sudanese Revolutionary Front rebels in North and South Kordofan, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) restricted and reactivated the Janjaweed militias under RFS to combat the rebel groups.
Other roles played by RFS
RSF was deployed to man its border with Libya inorder to stop Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees from crossing to Europe.
Protesters Shot Dead By RFS
RFS was implicated in the killing of 185 citizens who were protesting against austerity measures by the then President Omar Bashir. The armed men used live ammunition, tear gas and batons to quell the countrywide protests. More than 800 protesters were arrested, subjected to torture and female protesters sexually assaulted by security forces, the Human Rights Watch research reported.
Clashes
Hemedti used his men to cause chaos that led to resurgence of violence in Darfur in 2014 and 2014. The man who is now second in command in TMC, took control of Jabal Amir where he reportedly earns large sums from gold trading.
June 3rd
This is a day that will be etched in the minds of the people of Sudan following the killing of over 100 protester who included children by the Hemedti led RFS. The armed forces unleased terror in the early hours of 3rd June and left in their wake death of pro-democracy protesters who were holding a sit-in since April outside the army’s headquarters in Khartoum.