By John Ikani
UN Secretary-General (UNSG) António Guterres has begun a two-day official visit to the country to hold talks with President William Ruto, with the security and humanitarian situation in Sudan topping the agenda.
In addition, Guterres is holding consultations with all the Heads of UN Agencies who are meeting in Nairobi this week.
On Tuesday, President Ruto and US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, held discussions on ways to end the crisis in Sudan, with Ruto expressing his appreciation for the help of the US and Saudi Arabia in negotiating a ceasefire.
Ruto added that, Kenya will work closely with UN agencies and other organisations to coordinate, scale up, and deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan.
During his visit, President Ruto also held talks with UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations on delivering food, water, and medicine to the people in Sudan.
He also met with former Sudan Prime Minister, Abdallah Hamdok. Meanwhile, violence broke out primarily in Khartoum on April 15th, between rival military factions battling for control of Africa’s third-largest country.
This came after days of tension, as members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were redeployed around the country in a move that the army saw as a threat.
Since a 2021 coup, Sudan has been run by a council of generals, led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the armed forces, and in effect, the country’s president, and his deputy and leader of the RSF, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.
They have disagreed on the direction the country is going in and the proposed move towards civilian rule. The main sticking points are plans to include the 100,000-strong RSF into the army and who would then lead the new force.
“We are fighting for the people of Sudan to ensure the democratic progress for which they have so long yearned,” Gen Dagalo has said while accusing Gen Burhan’s government of being “radical Islamists”.
