Sudan’s sovereign council appointed Supreme Court Judge Nemat Abdullah Khair as Chief Justice, a first in Sudan and the entire Arab world.
Her appointment on Thursday, 10 October 2019 comes weeks after Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok appointed Asma Mohamed Abdalla, a seasoned diplomat, as the country’s first-ever female foreign minister.
The 11-member sovereign council also announced the appointment of Taj Al-Sir Ali as Sudan’s new prosecutor general.
Nemat Abdullah Khair was initially appointed chief justice in August but she was quickly replaced, only to be re-appointed after huge street protests.
The sovereign council also extended by three months the nationwide state of emergency, which had been imposed by former president Omar al Bashir on February 22.
Bashir had imposed a state of emergency in an attempt to crush protests that started in December 2018 after the government had tripled the price of bread.
The protests swiftly escalated into a nationwide movement against Bashir’s rule that finally saw the army forcing him to resign on April 11.
Later in August, Sudan swore in the joint civilian-military sovereign council, marking the first time that the country was not under full military rule since Bashir came to power in a 1989 coup.
Four women have been appointed to cabinet positions in the new government, including the country’s first female minister of foreign affairs, Asma Mohamed Abdalla.
By her appointment, Khair becomes Africa’s 8th female Chief Justice after Ghana’s Sophia Akuffo, Seychelles’ Mathilda Twomey, Mali’s Kaïta Kayentao Diallo, Ethiopia’s Meaza Ashenafi, Zambia’s Irene Mambilima, Sierra Leone’s Umu Hawa Tejan-Jalloh & Lesotho’s Nthomeng Majara.
Nemat Abdullah Mohamed Khair a short biography
- Born in Al-Kamleen, Gezira, Sudan in 1957
- BA in Law (Cairo University)
- Founded the Sudanese Judges Club
- Ruled against the al-Bashir government in 2016 in a case involving the Anglican church
