President William Ruto (right) and RSF Leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo at State House, Nairobi.
President William Ruto is defending his decision to hosting Sudanese rebels even as American lawmakers say it paints Kenya in bad light.
According to President Ruto, having the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied groups in Kenya would lead to a political process in Sudan.
The Kenyan leader’s defence came in a dispatch on a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They spoke on the crisis in the DR Congo and called for ceasefire and resumption of talks to end a war in which M23 rebels have taken key towns and cities.
While the State Department did not mention Sudan in the dispatch, President Ruto said they discussed it.
“Additionally, we discussed the situation in the Republic of Sudan and Kenya’s role in providing a platform for key stakeholders – including political parties, civil society, and other actors – to engage in a process aimed at stopping the tragic slide of Sudan into anarchy and ensuring a pathway towards sustainable peace,” State House said of the Friday night call.
President William Ruto (right) and RSF Leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo at State House, Nairobi.
It is an observation US lawmakers have disavowed. For one, US politicians do not see the RSF as a political party or civil movement. It is a paramilitary force seen as perpetrating heinous crimes on civilians as it seeks political power.
“Last year, I led efforts in Congress to recognise RSF-led atrocities in Sudan, which have contributed to more than 150,000 deaths, as genocide,” US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch said on X.
“In January, it became US policy. Now, #Kenya, a US ally, is helping the RSF legitimise their genocidal rule in #Sudan under the guise of peacemaking. This is an unthinkable attempt to obscure the truth and will not end the massacre.”
The arrival of the RSF and its allied movements in Kenya on Sunday elicited criticism. The Sudanese junta said Kenya was committing “an act of hostility”.
The RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have fought for power in a war that has killed at least 23,000 people (official estimates) and displaced 12 million in and outside the country since April 2023.
The UN considers Sudan the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa, having churned out more than half of the displaced people on the continent. RSF and SAF leaders are under US sanctions, with the RSF especially being accused of genocide in Darfur.
According to Kenyan officials, solving the crisis requires unpopular decisions which may gradually gain ground. Their argument is that the military government itself is illegitimate, having taken power via a coup in October 2021. Sudan has since then been suspended from activities of the African Union.
Two diplomats told the Sunday Nation this week that Kenya is pushing for a third track involving political groups, but added that discussions would be open to warring sides to join.
“You have to start somewhere,” one of the officials said.
Delegates from Sudan's West Darfur State at the KICC in Nairobi on 18 February 18, 2025, ahead of the planned signing of the Government of Peace and Unity Charter.
“There have been other processes which amounted to nothing and people are still dying. The only way out is a political solution involving arch-enemies.”
However, this strategy is already getting upended after the political group known as Taqaddum splintered, with one side joining RSF in discussions in Nairobi while the other insisted on remaining neutral.
Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, a former spokesperson for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) Executive Secretary said Kenya’s history of mediation faces a risk as RSF is a sanctioned group.
“Kenya has long been respected for its diplomatic leadership and commitment to regional peace and stability,” Sheekh, now an analyst on the Horn of Africa, said.
“Upholding this legacy is essential, as the country’s tradition of neutrality and mediation has been instrumental in promoting peace on the continent.”
Kenyan officials say they are not taking sides. Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi spoke of providing “good offices” for the Sudanese factions.
“Kenya has a long history of providing platforms for peace negotiations without taking sides,” Mudavadi said, referring to the talks that led to South Sudan gaining independence from Sudan as well as discussions that helped create the transitional federal government in Somalia.
“RSF and Sudanese civilian groups’ tabling of a roadmap and proposed leadership in Nairobi is compatible with Kenya’s role in peace negotiations which enjoin her to provide non-partisan platforms to seek resolutions.”
Delegates representing political parties affiliated to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces react to greetings at KICC, Nairobi on February 18, 2025, ahead of the planned signing of the Government of Peace and Unity Charter.
Critics, however, argue that Kenya’s comparison to previous mediations misses a point: parties in the past weren’t sanctioned for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“The approach comparison between the 3 countries (Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan) is flawed because the three situations are fundamentally different,” argued Ngovi Kitau, a former Kenyan ambassador to South Korea, now teaching international relations at the university.
In South Sudan, he argued, the southerners were an armed political movement, not a military force and the mediation there was backed by the international community including the regional bloc, IGAD.
In Somalia, warlords followed clan allegiance which meant they could negotiate, he said.
