Mudavadi tells Diplomats Kenya not taking sides in Sudan conflict

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, December 17th, 2024. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi now says Kenya has not taken sides in the Sudan conflict, explaining that the country has hosted the warring sides in separate occasions in pursuit of peace. Mudavadi said while there has been an orchestration of untruths against Kenya, Sudan needs support to resolve the conflict through peaceful means noting that despite increasing humanitarian crisis, Sudan continues to be a forgotten conflict. Addressing Heads of Diplomatic Missions, United Nations Agencies, and International Organizations in Nairobi during the quarterly briefing, Mudavadi said Kenya has hosted the leadership of the main protagonists and will continue to do so in pursuit of peace. "Kenya has hosted the President of the Sudan Sovereignty Council, General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and Rapid Support Forces Leader General Mohammed Dagalo on different occasions as we try to seek ways of having peace in Sudan," said Mudavadi. The Prime Cabinet Secretary reiterated that no parallel government for the Sudan was formed in Nairobi since Kenya abhors balkanization of sovereign states and supports a unified Sudan for the people of the Sudan and will pursue peace goals towards that. Mudavadi said the Nairobi meeting was not Rapid Support Forces only conference stating there were more than 24 political and civilian organizations reflecting the wide diversity and hunger for peace in Sudan beyond a contestation between SAF and RSF. He noted that the exclusive prioritizing of military groups alone, unfortunately, may take longer with grave consequences to the achievement of sustainable peace and stability in Sudan and that Kenya as a responsible member of the international community will host all the players in the conflict in pursuit of peace. "The recent Nairobi meetings by Sudanese groups underscored the primacy of the Sudanese people to determine how to govern themselves, with Kenya not being part of the discussions, it was purely an affair of the Sudanese people out to voice their views about the state of their country," said Mudavadi. At the same time, Sudan has petitioned Kenya's parliament, protesting the hosting of a rebel group planning to destabilise their government. Malik Agar Eyre, the Vice President of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, has sent a petition to Kenya's parliament expressing "Grave Concern Regarding the Hosting of Meetings by the Rapid Support Forces Militia on Kenyan Territory." His petition reads in part, "Honorable Members of Parliament, I wish to bring to your attention that on February 22, 2025, the RSF militia convened a meeting in Nairobi, with another gathering planned for mid-April 2025. These meetings are aimed at establishing a so-called "parallel government," which directly undermines Sudan's sovereignty and poses a threat to regional peace and stability. The Sudanese people, the African Union, the United Nations Security Council, IGAD, and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) have all firmly rejected any attempts by this militia to impose an illegitimate alternative governance structure." Sudan pleaded with parliament to uphold the legacy of Pan-Africanism and ensure that it would not permit Kenyan territory to be used to legitimize or host entities intent on undermining a neighboring African state. Mudavadi said that the humanitarian numbers continue to soar, with over 10 million Sudanese or 20% of the population, forcefully displaced, with over 30 million citizens in dire need of humanitarian assistance, with those mostly affected being vulnerable and poor, in marginalized areas, with no means to move to safer places. The CS argued, "It must concern each one of us that the commitment to the long-held objective of silencing the guns in the continent is proving even more elusive than thought; this is not a state of affairs we can responsibly settle for," said Mudavadi. He said that the East African Community and Southern Africa Development Community merged peace process in Congo DRC led to President William Ruto chairing the inaugural meeting of the panel of facilitators of the merged Nairobi-Luanda peace process, virtually. Mudavadi said the Southern Africa Region will share their nominee in due course, to facilitate their work, Kenya has offered to provide some working space and its good offices to the facilitators. The choice, however, remains with the facilitators themselves. "The facilitators, appointed by the Summit of EAC-SADC Heads of State and Government, comprise former Heads of State and Government: Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia, and Catherine Samba-Panza of the Central African Republic," said Mudavadi. He told the meeting that the decision to lead the Multi-National Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti was guided by the desire to serve humanity wherever called upon and extend the circle of Pan-African solidarity and that It may be necessary to state that the country has participated in over 40 peacekeeping Missions globally. "While there are gains made since the arrival of our contingent, there are numerous challenges, that include low number of deployments, which is now about 36% of the approved number of 2,500 security officers, there was more needed from the wider international community to improve on equipment and personnel," said Mudavadi. He told the meeting that President Ruto officially launched the Shirika Plan, aimed at integrating refugees through sustainable development programs with host communities, with Kenya hosting more than 800,000 refugees. Mudavadi said that despite initial pitfalls, the Shirika Plan amplifies the African Union's call for African solutions to not only Africa's problems but also global challenges, appealing to the international community to continue lending support to actualize this Plan. "I am constrained to mention that besides the premier progress of the refugee integration programme, it has unfortunately come to our attention that some countries are violating international norms and abusing our hospitality by issuing passports to refugees of their countries of origin," said Mudavadi.

Mudavadi tells Diplomats Kenya not taking sides in Sudan conflict

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Mudavadi tells Diplomats Kenya not taking sides in Sudan conflict

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