In Episode 17 of the Pan African Attitude podcast, our CEO, Ahmed Kaballo, sits down one-on-one with his father, Sidgi Kaballo. They debate whether or not there is a lesser of two evils, among many other urgent questions surrounding the proxy war in Sudan.
Kaballo Sr., an economist, academic, and Central Committee member of the Sudanese Communist Party, argues that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are two devils and he is reluctant to choose based on the lesser of two evils. He concedes that RSF is worse than the army, but still, neither armed group, whichever emerges victorious from the war, will be accepted by the Sudanese people to lead the country. Kaballo Sr. concludes that Sudan needs a third option, represented by civilian leadership and rule.
Ahmed disagrees with his father slightly, saying that in the situation, we have to choose the lesser of two evils because only two forces are fighting, and RSF is the more evil force. If they win, Sudan as a state will be over. So, all Sudanese people have to put their support behind the army at this time.
Despite its historic abuses of power and mass violations of civilian rights, the SAF are emerging as heroes among the Sudanese people in the current war. Hostilities erupted on 15 April 2023 and have raged on since. Until recently, the UAE-backed RSF was accused of most violations against civilians during the proxy war. However, recent events like the SAF’s bombing of a public market in the northern Darfur town of Kabkabiya that killed over 100 people mean neither of the warring parties is innocent of atrocities carried out on the country’s civilian population.
The whole episode of this profoundly insightful conversation is available on our X, Patreon and Rumble platforms.