changing faces

Sudan: Hemeti’s multi-million dollar image make over

By Vincent Duhem

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Posted on April 25, 2023 09:32

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, in Khartoum, 2 March 2022. (© Sudanese Presidential Palace/Handout/Anadolu Agency via AFP)

Since 2019, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemeti’ has undertaken significant means to reform his image as a warlord, an effort partly ruined by the armed conflict that has pitted him against General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since 15 April.

Last November 2022, a small team of French lobbyists met in Dubai with a simple objective: to present a vast, Hemeti-oriented communication strategy. For two days at the Grand Millennium Hotel, one presentation after another was seen, slides scrolling by, one detailing the progress of the Hope for Sudan operation, along with a variety of media campaigns, political lobbying, and online influence. Enter a new public relations strategy for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

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