Sudan’s army-aligned administration lashed out Monday at what it called Kenya’s “irresponsible and hostile” support for efforts by Khartoum’s paramilitary rivals to form a parallel government.
Since April 2023, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, once allies, have been locked in a power struggle that has dragged the country into war.
Late Saturday, the RSF and a coalition of political and armed groups signed in Nairobi a charter that would pave the way for a “peace and unity” government in rebel-held areas, with Kenya’s foreign minister later saying the proposed administration would restore “democratic governance” in Sudan.
Sudan’s foreign ministry condemned the “dangerous precedent” on Monday, saying that “in a grave threat to regional security and peace, the Kenyan leadership has adopted the parallel government that the genocidal militia and its followers intend to declare in some of the remaining pockets under their control”.
The government, it added, would take “the necessary steps to respond to this irresponsible and hostile behaviour”.
Those steps appeared to be taking shape Monday, with foreign ministry undersecretary Hussein Al-Amin Al-Fadil telling a press conference in Port Sudan that “measures against Kenya are escalating, and there are arrangements for economic measures, including a ban on importing Kenyan products”.
He also said Sudan was in the process of withdrawing its ambassador from Nairobi, and would file a complaint against Kenya through regional and international channels.
Among the signatories of the charter was a faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, which controls parts of the southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The United Nations warned that the signing of the charter would “increase the fragmentation” of the war-torn country.
But in a post on X on Sunday, Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi called the charter “a peace agreement”, describing the proposed administration as a “a unity government” that would restore “peace, stability, and democratic governance in Sudan”.
In its statement, Khartoum accused Nairobi of creating a “false facade for the militia to directly obtain weapons”, while “relieving regional sponsors of some embarrassment”.
The foreign ministry said that this “would expand the scope of war and prolong its duration”, and warned of potential damage to bilateral ties with Kenya.
The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly accused by the UN and the United States of supplying weapons to the RSF, which Washington accused of genocide last month.
In late January, Kenya signed an economic partnership agreement with the UAE, calling it a “historic milestone in the economic relations between the two countries”.
Fadil said Monday that Kenyan President William Ruto “has known personal interests with the militia leader and its sponsors, and is betting on losing cards”.
Saturday’s signing of the charter comes as the army and its allied militias are making advances against the RSF in the capital Khartoum and in central Sudan.
The war in Sudan, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, erupted after a rift emerged between Burhan and Daglo over the future structure of the government.
The war has triggered the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
Both warring sides face accusations of committing grave atrocities against civilians, with their leaders sanctioned by the US.
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