Sudan Rejects Mediation of Kenya in Conflict

Sudanese military authorities reject the deployment of troops from member countries of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and disregard the mediation aspirations of Kenyan President William Ruto in their internal conflict.

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The communiqué was given by General Yasir Al Ata, deputy commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, during which he challenged Ruto to send his “intervening” troops and for which he branded him as a mercenary at the orders of an army, of which no reference was given. 

The Sudanese government has repeatedly accused the Kenyan president of maintaining strategic relations with opposition leaders of the Rapid Support Force (RSF), declared a rebel force and an enemy of the nation-state. These have been the reasons that the Sudanese president considers to be the driving force behind Ruto’s sustained intention to mediate in the conflict.

In another part of the communiqué, Al Ata recalled that the objective of the military confrontation that began in April in the country is to maintain national unity and be “free from the Janjaweed threat.” The military refers to a grouping of Arab militias made up mostly of tribes from the Dafur region and Chad, settled in border territories.

"We, as soldiers, don’t aspire to govern. It is up to the political forces to reach an agreement to govern the country, but we inform them that Sudan is not a game for any unscrupulous politician, speculator, or mercenary.”

The military confrontation between the Army and the RSF broke out in the context of increasing tensions over the integration of the military group into the Armed Forces. This merger was a key part of the agreement signed in December to form a new civilian government and revive the open transition following the 2019 overthrow of Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The transition process was interrupted by the coup d'état in October 2021 against the unity prime minister, Abdullah Hamdok. 

The war has so far left more than 1,100 people dead, according to the Sudanese Ministry of Health, but the actual numbers could be much higher considering the intercommunal violence unleashed in the Kordofan and Darfur regions.

In addition, more than three million people have been displaced, including nearly 740,000 who have fled to neighboring countries, according to data provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), among the daily reports of large-scale atrocities against women and girls in the country.

For his part, Kenyan President William Ruto has rejected these accusations while insisting that every day it becomes more necessary to put an end to the conflict in the neighboring country. Ruto believes that a war of such proportions threatens to destabilize the region and give easy entry to terrorist groups, taking advantage of the social chaos and the absence of governance that prevail in Sudan.