Open Letter No. (1) to the Governor of Khartoum State, Ahmed Othman Hamza

Khalid Massa

After greetings, may this message find you in the state we hope for you — and more.

Subject: Comment on the Announcement of Exempting Citizens from Water Bills for 2023 and 2024

Let me begin by saying: I am not asking you for anything. Whenever God blesses us with praying behind an imam who fears Him — not you — and that imam invokes the prayer narrated by Mother of the Believers Aisha, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “O Allah, whoever assumes responsibility over my community and causes them hardship, then burden him with hardship,” I will simply answer “Amen.”

Before addressing the core of the issue, and to avoid any futile debate with the cheerleaders of power, allow me to make one thing clear: we know the extent of the destruction that befell the infrastructure of the Water Corporation during the occupation — better than you do. We were present. We saw it with our own eyes, while you and those with you sought shelter in safe places. So spare us the tired clichés used to justify new fees and collections.

But let me ask you, Governor — if you will allow a simple citizen such a question:
Do you and your officials fear that the state and its institutions might be tainted by the fire of ill-gotten money?

To be frank, your use of the word “exemption” in your recent announcement is inaccurate and misleading. It carries an implied sense of generosity — generosity that is entirely misplaced.

We, the residents of East Nile locality — a locality within your state — lost access to water the moment the first gunshot was fired on April 15 of the year of famine. While you remained in safe areas, angry only because the war interrupted your access to the pockets of citizens, we fought a daily battle for survival: the battle to secure water.

As Sudanese citizens, even in times of peace, we carry the burdens of the state ourselves: we build schools through community efforts, clinics through community efforts, electricity through community efforts. We have spared you every weight that might burden your shoulders — perhaps then you would be pleased with this afflicted nation.

Some of our youth died trying to operate the community-built water wells — wells your government proudly attended their inauguration, as usual sitting atop the sweat of the people. Our shoulders — and those of our women and children — bore the weight of carrying water.

To be precise: securing water was a matter of life or death. The armed groups around us believed that access to water posed a security threat to their presence. You cannot imagine such a reality while you cool your throat with bottled water.

And now you present your “exemption” from water bills for two years as a favor. May I ask — without violating the etiquette you expect from citizens toward officials:
For what service, exactly, do you believe the state deserves this payment?
We operated the wells ourselves. We collected the little we had to purchase fuel because electricity became a luxury beyond reach.

We shared every meager resource — and our sons abroad helped us buy solar panels after criminals stole the generators. They even killed a young man, Basel, because he was trying to operate one of the wells. We barely survived many incidents.

The year 2025 has come and gone, Governor, and your Water Corporation has contributed nothing — absolutely nothing — to the provision of water. So what exactly are you “exempting” us from?

Surely you do not know how much we pay for a barrel of contaminated water, unfit even for basic use. And you do not want to know — you and your staff are occupied with “cosmic matters,” none of which concern the daily survival of your people.

Have you ever lived a single day in which a loved one — God forbid — needed refrigerated insulin, but it spoiled because electricity had been gone for nearly three years and you could not afford a solar system?
I pray you never experience this. Because if you did, you would rise against the state with your own sword. There is nothing dearer to us than our parents.

Tell me, Governor: do you truly believe the myth that Sudanese people still have “savings”?
Do you believe their children abroad print currency in their houses?
Every time your treasury is asked: “Are you full?” it answers, as do you: “Is there more?”

You and your government want the citizens’ money — and their gratitude as well.

By God, whose majesty upholds the heavens without pillars: we will not sell you our suffering.
And by God, whose name is Justice: we will ask Him in every prayer to show us His power upon you in this world before the next.

How do you sleep? How do you face your family and children genuinely believing you have “exempted” citizens from a bill your state never earned in the first place?

When you and your officials use the coercive power entrusted to you by God, remember:
He is the Subduer.
He is the One who gives honor and takes it away.
And you will stand before Him alone on the Day of Judgment. The flatterers and incense-burners around you will not intercede — they, too, will be in torment.

And we…
We will not fall silent until God relieves us of you by our death.
And He is sufficient for us, and the best of protectors.