After weeks of speculation, officials of the Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have officially signed a charter in Nairobi to establish a parallel government.
The charter, signed on Saturday, paves the way for the RSF to govern rebel-held areas advocating for a secular state and a unified national army.
The signing of the charter was confirmed by signatories Al-Hadi Idris and Ibrahim Al-Mirghani, who disclosed the development to Reuters.
The signing ceremony was attended by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, a powerful rebel leader who controls vast swathes of territory and troops in South Kordofan state, and who has long demanded that Sudan embrace secularism.
According to the text of the charter, the signatories agreed that Sudan should be a "secular, democratic, non-centralised state" with a unified national army, though it also upheld the right of armed groups to continue existing.
Further, the charter stated that the government did not exist to split the country but rather to unify it and to end the war, tasks it said the army-aligned government operating out of Port Sudan had failed to do.
The decision to host the RSF in Nairobi sparked criticism from diplomatic policy analysts and the Sudanese government.
On Wednesday last week, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned President William Ruto’s administration for allegedly hosting the RSF, a rebel group engaged in an ongoing battle with the Sudanese army for control of the country.
This backlash followed an RSF event held in Nairobi on Tuesday, February 18, aimed at forming an alliance with political figures and armed groups to bolster the RSF’s influence in Sudan.
Meanwhile, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary RSF, which has been accused of widespread abuses including genocide, was hit with sanctions by the United States earlier this year.
However, Kenya, seemingly unaware of the diplomatic implications, proceeded to host the paramilitary leaders in Nairobi.
In response to the backlash, the government, through the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, dismissed allegations of siding with the RSF. In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, the administration refuted claims that it had taken sides in the 22-month conflict between the Sudanese government and the RSF.
''The crisis in Sudan demands regional and global attention,'' the statement said. ''With its credentials as an enabler of peace in the region and across the globe, Kenya remains at the forefront of seeking solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.''
