NAIROBI: Kenyan President William Ruto has pledged to arrange a “face to face” meeting between Sudan’s warring generals in an effort to bring an end to the ongoing crisis in the country, the Kenyan presidency announced on Monday.
The fighting, which began in mid-April between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has persisted despite multiple failed ceasefires.
Several truces have been agreed upon and subsequently broken, leading US and Saudi Arabian mediators to issue a warning on Saturday that they may withdraw from the mediation process if a 24-hour ceasefire is not respected.
The African Union, which suspended Sudan following a coup in 2021 led by Burhan and Daglo, and the East African regional bloc IGAD, have also been involved in efforts to facilitate discussions, with South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir acting as a mediator.
Global Efforts to Resolve Sudan Crisis
During a summit held in Djibouti on Monday, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) announced an expansion of the countries involved in resolving the crisis. Kenya will chair a quartet that includes Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan. Kenyan President Ruto, speaking at the summit, expressed Kenya’s commitment to arranging a face-to-face meeting between the two Sudanese generals to seek a lasting solution. Ruto also stated that an inclusive national dialogue process would commence within the next three weeks, and a humanitarian corridor would be established in two weeks to facilitate aid delivery.
The draft communique from the IGAD meeting released by Ruto’s office stated that the quartet leaders would organize a face-to-face meeting between Burhan and Daglo in one of the regional capitals. The United States had previously imposed sanctions on both rival generals after a failed truce in late May.
The crisis in Sudan has resulted in a dire humanitarian situation, with more than half of the population, approximately 25 million people, in need of aid and protection, according to the United Nations. The fighting has displaced nearly two million people, with 476,000 seeking refuge in neighboring countries, and has affected areas such as Khartoum and the western region of Darfur.
Sudan’s military elites, including Burhan and Daglo, have accumulated significant wealth during the rule of former strongman Omar al-Bashir. Bashir’s government faced decades of international sanctions before his overthrow in 2019.
