President William Ruto, during an interview with VOA Africa, aired on Wednesday, May 29, revealed how a meeting with Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, generally known as Hemedti, almost collapsed Sudan peace talks.
With the permission of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Ruto revealed that he had invited Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader to State House Nairobi on January 3.
Immediately after hosting Hemedti, Sudan's military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, threatened to withdraw from the peace talks.
“When IGAD asked both sides to come for a meeting, Hemedti showed up. Burhan showed up in one meeting, and then in the next meeting, Hemedti showed up,” Ruto revealed what transpired.
“When Hemedti showed up, the other side says they are pulling out of IGAD because the other side showed up.”
Ruto remarked that despite the setback, he still believed that there could be no peace in Sudan if both sides don't sit on the same negotiating table.
The Head of State remarked that he had hosted both Al Burhan and Hemedti because peace is made through enemies engaging and compromising.
President Ruto added that he would continue pushing for both sides to negotiate, adding that was the only viable solution to ending the civil war that has rocked the country.
“This is not the time for sides to decide who talks to who. This is time for the sides involved in the carnage, destruction, and killing ongoing in Sudan. This is the time for sides to stop, and they should be the last ones trying to point fingers,” he added.
Ruto remarked that efforts were underway to have the two leaders and their teams participate in the process.
He reiterated an earlier statement that had caused controversy that there is no military solution to the challenges being experienced in Sudan.
IGAD has also adopted Ruto’s position, and the President remarked that the process should also include other stakeholders besides the warring generals.
“We want to make a Sudan conversation led by Sudanese and inclusive process and not limited to military combatants,” he stated adding that civil societies were being included in the dialogue process.
“They have now signed what they call a Nairobi agreement to bring together different teams of civil societies and political parties to be able to think about how they can add the impetus to stopping the war in Sudan and providing a mechanism that eventually will install a civilian administration in Sudan,” he briefed of the peace process.
