Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has slammed President William Ruto for allowing Sudan’s rebel group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to hold a meeting in Nairobi.
According to the second deputy president, Ruto’s actions have tarnished Kenya’s reputation on the global stage.
Speaking during a live interview on Monday, February 24, 2025, Gachagua said that allowing the RSF, a group that has been sanctioned globally for its involvement in genocide, to hold meetings in government facilities in Kenya’s capital is reckless.
He went on to say that Ruto’s decisions are deeply concerning and are taking the country in the wrong direction, adding that Kenya has always upheld a policy of non-interference in the affairs of other nations.
“In all fairness, President William Ruto has messed this country in the national eye. He is doing all the wrong things. We have a policy of non-interference with the affairs of other countries.
“We cannot allow rebels who have been slapped with international sanctions because of genocide to meet in government facilities in Nairobi, and it is putting Kenya in a very bad light. That group RSF has been flagged by the international communities,” Gachagua said.
Sudan’s response
On Thursday, February 20, 2025, the Sudanese government called out Ruto for permitting RSF to hold a meeting in Nairobi, accusing him of siding with RSF.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry noted that Ruto’s administration unfurled a scarlet red mat for RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, famously known as Hemedti, when he visited Nairobi.
They further claimed that Ruto had picked the RSF side due to commercial interests without delving deeper into it.
“The current meetings are merely the culmination of the ongoing support provided by the Kenyan presidency to the terrorist militia in various fields. Nairobi has thus become one of the main centres for the militia’s political, propaganda, financial, and logistical activities. The Kenyan president has also previously accorded a red-carpet reception to the RSF militia leader.
“Thus, the Kenyan president is seen by the majority of the Sudanese people as complicit in the war of aggression being waged against them by the terrorist RSF militia and its foreign mercenaries,” Sudan said in a press statement.
The Republic of Sudan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Office of the Spokesperson and Media DirectoratePress Statement
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reviewed the press statement issued by its Kenyan counterpart, attempting to justify the disgraceful stance of President…
— وزارة خارجية جمهورية السودان 🇸🇩 (@MofaSudan) February 21, 2025
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