President William Ruto's National Security Advisor, Monica Juma, has reached out to the United States Government in a bid to end the war in Sudan.
Juma held a phone conversation with President Joe Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sulivan, on the evening of Tuesday, July 25, over steps the two countries can take to solve humanitarian crises in the North African country.
The two leaders discussed the steps that should be taken to restore democracy in the troubled country.
"We reviewed the state of the region and the imperative to cohere efforts towards responding to growing humanitarian crises, stopping the war in Sudan, supporting the strengthening of democratic dispensation, the effect of the climate crisis, the commitment of Kenya to the search of peace and security beyond our region and the value of engagement with the Africa climate summit scheduled for September 2023," Juma stated in a statement.
"I urged the USA to focus sharper attention on the evolving trends and dynamics in the Horn of Africa and its neighbourhood."
The meeting came a day after Sudan Armed Forces General Yasser Al-Atta dared Ruto to a fight between his troops and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers.
The escalation of the animosity came just months after Al-Atta accused the Head of State of funding Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which is trying to take over Khartoum.
“The state (Kenya) that supports you (RSF) and the mercenaries like you with money must also bring its army... leave the East African forces and come with your army to intervene and we are waiting for you,” Al-Atta stated.
Kenyan Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, however, noted that Kenya was yet to respond to the threats because his Ministry was yet to get the full context.
Ruto, who has on different occasions offered to mediate the truce between the warring parties, was rejected by the Al-Atta-led faction accusing him of bias.
The generals are accusing Ruto of having links to the head of RSF General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
Initially, Ruto had volunteered to mediate peace talks and was ratified to take the mantle during a June 15 Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) summit held in Adis Ababa.
After his rejection, Ruto then appealed to allow humanitarian agencies to operate freely because 'agencies are helping to alleviate the suffering caused by the conflict and their work should proceed unimpeded.'
The Sudan war, which began in April, came after a fallout between Sudan’s military and the country’s main paramilitary force and has left hundreds of citizens dead.
The two main factions are jostling over a power struggle whose fallout began in 2019 after the ouster of the then President Omar al-Bashir.
