The United States has issued an alert over arms smuggling to the Republic of Sudan through the Port of Mombasa. The alert follows intelligence reports that a consignment of arms is on the high seas, destined for Sudan through the port.

Sources told the People Daily that the consignment belonging to a senior politician and an influential civil servant from Rift Valley is part of the support given to the Sudan rebel group, the Rapid Support Force (RSF,) headed by Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo Mousa, also known as Hemedti.

Already, a senior Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officer is camping at the port of Mombasa waiting to clear the cargo destined for Sudan.

The officer, who heads a unit that was implicated in the killings and abductions of Gen Zs during last July’s protests, was due for retirement later this year but has been given an extension of service due to his role in the supply of arms to RSF.

The officer has also been providing security services to the RSF leaders who have been staying in Nairobi. The extension of services for the officer has caused uproar within the DCI, amidst questions over why he alone has been left behind among the 300 officers who are to retire alongside him.

The US, in its report last week, warned that Kenya has been used as a conduit for arms to the Sudan rebel group since December 2022.

The ship ferrying the cargo is expected to dock any time this week, with the officer given instructions to facilitate its seamless clearance and subsequent transhipment to Sudan.

The US says this would not be the first time arms have been smuggled to the rebel group through Kenya.

Parallel government

Early this year, the government of Sudan condemned Kenya for hosting the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), terming it a blatant disregard for its obligation under international law.

The RSF forces, a group fighting against the Sudanese army for power, held an event in Nairobi in February with the talks revolving around the formation of a parallel government in RSF-controlled areas.

Few days after the talks, RSF signed a charter with allied political and armed groups late to establish a “government of peace and unity”.

The move by the signatories, including prominent rebel leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu, paved the way for establishing the Sudan Founding Alliance, which aims to promote peace and unity in rebel-controlled areas of Sudan.

Al-Hilu is the leader of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, which controls parts of South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, and who has long demanded that Sudan embrace secularism.

The signatories lauded Kenyan President William Ruto for maintaining a nonpartisan position despite pressure and allegations that the Nairobi gathering aimed to form a parallel government in Kenya.

The signatories to the charter claimed that Kenya has only served as a platform for the more than 4,000 stakeholders to engage with the root causes of problems in Sudan and find solutions.

In a statement, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that such a move dismembers the African states and violates its sovereignty by interfering 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.

The meeting also happened four days after the African Union Peace and Security Council, convened by Heads of State and Government, condemned all forms of external interference fuelling the Sudanese conflict and urged the warring parties to commit to an inclusive political dialogue.

The Sudan government blamed RSF for the ongoing acts of war in the country and noted that Kenya rolling out the red carpet for RSF forces to conduct its operations is an act of endorsement of the heinous crimes the group reportedly commits.

“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 ministry stated.

The war in Sudan has been escalating leading to tens of thousands of civilians being killed, with both the RSF and Sudanese army accused of committing the said crimes.

The conflict ensued after Sudan’s de facto ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan fell out with his deputy-turned rival Mohamed Dagalo, who leads the RSF.

The paramilitary group was recently dealt a huge blow when the Sudanese army took control of major parts of Khartoum and Gezira.

This led to the RSF group plotting to launch a rival government in a “political charter for the Government of Peace and Unity.”

On February 19, 2024, the Kenyan government, through the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, admitted to providing the RSF with a platform to convene in Nairobi and attempted to justify this decision.

This move will undoubtedly strain the longstanding relationship between Sudan and Kenya.