The Sudanese government has officially rejected the Kenyan leadership of a delegation set up by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) to help mediate between the warring factions involved in the ongoing conflict in the country, reported The Sudan Tribune.
“We informed Igad that we rejected the chairmanship of Kenya in the Sudan crisis committee because Kenya was not neutral,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Earlier this week, the IGAD heads of state and government included Ethiopia as the fourth member of the IGAD High-Level Delegation for the Peace Process in Sudan. They also selected Kenyan President William Ruto to lead the quartet, composed of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan.
But, on Thursday, Sudan’s military-led Sovereign Council stated that the army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had a talk with Djibouti’s President and IGAD Chair, Ismail Omar Guelleh, and informed him of Sudan’s rejection of Kenya’s chairmanship of the peace delegation.
The Sudanese foreign ministry statement accused Kenya of being home to RSF rebel leaders. It said that the behavior of the Kenyan government and senior officials have confirmed their adoption of positions held by the rebel RSF militia. It accused Kenya of providing shelter and various kinds of support to the paramilitary force members.
Al-Burhan and the Sudanese foreign ministry, however, reiterated the country’s support for the IGAD efforts to settle the ongoing crisis.
Kenya said it was yet to receive a formal communication of the rejection. The Kenyan Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei said the appointment of President William Ruto to lead the IGAD delegation was made at the Igad summit and can only be vacated by the summit.
Notably, Mr. Ruto has been critical of the war in Sudan, once saying that the rival generals should stop the nonsense. He has met envoys of both the Sudanese army and RSF in Nairobi.
