RSF Narratives and the Reality of the Imposed War

Compiled by The Citizen Reporters

On the third anniversary of the Dignity War, several questions arise… Why is the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighting in this war? What rhetoric does it use to rally its supporters? Are these motives realistic and genuine? In the following article, we attempt to answer these questions:

Since the outbreak of the war in April 2023, the RSF media machine has not ceased its attempts to weave a narrative that grants their rebellion a false legitimacy and a just cause.
However, anyone aware of the reality on the ground will find that these slogans are nothing but masks that are falling one after another in the face of the facts and evidence of the situation.

The militia relied on shifting between three narratives, each of which we will briefly address below:

The Lie of Fighting the Remnants of the Old Regime:

The militia raises the banner of fighting the remnants of the old regime, in a ludicrous paradox.
The RSF are nothing more than the legitimate offspring of the former regime, which created and nurtured them to be its loyal “watchdog” for a decade and a half. Even more absurd is that most of the leaders associated with the former regime, from within the militia’s social fabric, have actually joined its ranks today. Why doesn’t the militia classify them as such? Is this a case of double standards? Furthermore, how can those who were the primary protectors of the remnants of the old regime now claim to be revolting against them?

The “State of 1956”:

In its rhetoric, the militia targets what it calls the “State of 1956,” conveniently forgetting that it is the biggest beneficiary of the privileges of this state. The representatives of the regions they belong to in the independence parliament were the first to demand that state and benefited greatly from its privileges, military and executive ranks, and local administration positions.

The very state that the militia is attacking (the 1956 state) granted the militia leaders high military ranks and the legal legitimacy through which they expanded their power. How can it be that the state’s creation is now its destroyer under the pretext of victimhood?

Marginalization… a word of truth used for falsehood:

The militia leaders claim to raise the banner of the marginalized, while the reality of the Dagalo family completely contradicts this. They are far from being economically or politically marginalized, having acquired wealth and positions unmatched by any other Sudanese, without any right or fair competition. Their fortunes were amassed through control of gold mines and the plundering of the country’s resources under the protection of the very central government they now claim to be rebelling against. This is a “marginalization” only perceived by those who own private jets and multinational corporations!

To refute the militia’s claim of defending the marginalized, it suffices to point to the documented violations in the very areas the militia claims to be protecting from marginalization (such as what happened in El Geneina, El Fasher, or the villages of Gezira). This reinforces the idea that the alleged “liberation from marginalization” is, in reality, “destruction.”

The Destructive Triad: The Real Causes of the War:

If we strip away these glittering slogans, the truth emerges. This rebellion is not for democracy or justice, but rather a movement driven by:

– Personal ambitions: The Dagalo family’s desire to retain power and wealth and cling to the reins of government in Sudan.

– A regional agenda: External powers have found in the militia a compliant proxy to advance their projects and control Sudan’s resources and strategic location.

– Political opportunism: Local actors, realizing their inability to attain power through the ballot box, have chosen to ride the militia’s coattails to reach the seats of power.

Were it not for God’s grace, the courageous stand of the Sudanese people and their vibrant national forces, and their unity with their armed forces—who stood as the solid rock against which the conspiracy shattered—Sudan would today be nothing more than a fiefdom subservient to a new colonizer. The awareness of the Sudanese citizen thwarted the plan that sought to transform the country into yet another model of chaos and dependency.

The war waged by the militia is a nightmare nearing its end, God willing. With every inch liberated, the conviction grows stronger that Sudan will remain united and that false narratives cannot withstand the sacrifices of the honorable.

We ask God to grant our country complete victory and to cleanse its soil of the stain of rebellion, so that Sudan may remain strong and dignified.