The April 2019 revolution in Sudan, which ended Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year military rule, brought hope that a civilian regime would emerge to govern the country. But – less than a year since the appointment of the transitional prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok – this hope is fading fast. Despite the fact that a “constitutional declaration” places the civilian-dominated cabinet in charge of the country, the generals are largely calling the shots. They control the means of coercion and a tentacular network of parastatal companies, which capture much of Sudan’s wealth and consolidate their power at the expense of their civilian partners in government. For the activists who mobilised for radical change,…