The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Sudan has condemned Kenya for granting the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a base to organize and call for the establishment of a parallel government. The ministry described this act as “a blatant disregard for Kenya’s obligations under international law.”
In the same statement, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs asserted that such actions fragment African states and violate Sudan’s sovereignty through Kenyan interference in its internal affairs. “This is, therefore, a clear breach of the United Nations Charter, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, and the established principles of the contemporary international order,” the statement read in part.
Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict erupted in the capital, Khartoum, following escalating tensions over the integration of the RSF into the national army. The violence quickly spread across the country, resulting in widespread devastation and a severe humanitarian crisis. As of February 2025, the war has claimed over 24,000 lives and displaced more than 14 million people, with nearly half of the population facing severe hunger.
The international community has continually expressed deep concern regarding the escalating violence and its regional implications. In February 2025, the United Nations launched an urgent appeal for $6 billion in aid to address the “appalling” levels of human suffering, aiming to assist nearly 21 million people in need.
Under these circumstances, the RSF held a large event at Nairobi’s Kenyatta International Convention Centre on Tuesday, discussing the formation of a parallel government in RSF-controlled areas of Sudan. Promoting their initiative as a “Political Charter for the Government of Peace and Unity,” the group claims to be uniting political, civil, and social forces alongside armed movements to “restore the legitimate government” that they allege was “overthrown by remnants and militias of the Islamic movement.” This stands in stark contrast to the Port-Sudan-based government led by General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, which is widely recognized as the legitimate Sudanese government.
The Sudanese government has long expressed unease regarding Kenya’s cordial relationship with the RSF, particularly following the RSF leader, Ahmed Hamdan Dagallo, known as ‘Hemedti,’ receiving a head of state-like reception in Nairobi during his meeting with Kenyan President William Ruto, as well as accompanying the president on a trip to Juba, South Sudan, last year. This has led Sudan to withdraw its diplomatic personnel from Nairobi and subsequently announce a diplomatic reset after bilateral discussions late last year.
“Hosting leaders of the terrorist RSF militia and allowing them to conduct political and propaganda activities while they continue to perpetrate genocide, massacre civilians on an ethnic basis, attack IDP camps, and commit acts of rape constitutes endorsement of and complicity in these heinous crimes,” the Sudanese Foreign Ministry stated.