President William Ruto has called for dialogue between the warring factions in Sudan which has led to the death of thousands and millions being displaced.

In a statement on Friday, February 14, 2025, Ruto urged the warring parties to consider dialogue during a session of the ongoing African Union summit in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

“We urge the warring parties in the Sudan conflict to embrace genuine and inclusive dialogue, as sustainable peace cannot be achieved through military means,” Ruto said.

“Thousands have been killed, millions displaced and humanitarian aid blocked. This is an unacceptable state of affairs.”

Ruto also noted that Kenya was willing to aid in a negotiated effort to end the suffering of the Sudanese people and that the government had committed Ksh258 million to help with the humanitarian conditions occasioned by the war.

“Kenya, alongside the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), remains prepared to support and facilitate efforts towards a negotiated settlement that will end the suffering of the people of Sudan,” Ruto said.

“Pledged Ksh258 million to support over 30 million Sudanese people in need of humanitarian aid.

Sudan war

While tensions have characterised the situation in Sudan since the toppling of former president Omar el-Bashir’s thirty-year rule of the oil-rich nation in 2019, the new war is between two army generals who are wrestling for control of the country.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the armed forces and head of the state of Sudan has been at loggerheads with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as “Hemedti”.

Their differences came to a head in April 2023, when Hemedti proposed that at least 100,000 of his RSF soldiers be coopted into the government army, a proposal which drew suspicion from the main army general.

In the fallout which followed, RSF took control of Khartoum and Darfur while the main army took swathes of territory in the North and East of the country.

Ramadhan pause

12 million people have been displaced since the war began while tens of thousands have died in the process.

On Friday, February 14, 2025, Reem al-Hashimy, the UAE’s minister of state for international cooperation, appealed to the warring sides to consider a pause in hostilities for the Ramadhan month.

What the UAE is looking to do alongside its partners… is to call for a humanitarian pause as we approach the holy month of Ramadhan, which is in two weeks,” al-Hashimy said on the sidelines of the ongoing AU summit in Ethiopia.

“We are hopeful that by having this humanitarian pause we will be able to deliver aid unhindered… to those that need it the most, particularly women and children who are suffering in unprecedented ways,” she added.