The Kenyan Government has denied being in receipt of official communication indicating that Sudan has rejected the appointment of President William Ruto to lead peace talks.
Reacting to reports, Foreign Affairs PS Sing'oei Korir said while the government is yet to be addressed officially on the matter, the appointment of President Ruto can only be revoked by Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
"No official communication on this yet. But both the inclusion of PM Abiy Ahmed Ali to the Troika mandated to seek peace in #SudanCrisis & appointment of William Ruto to lead the Quartet was arrived at by the IGAD Summit and can only be vacated by the Summit," Sing'oei said in a tweet.
The Sudanese government opposed the replacement of President Salva Kiir Mayardit as head of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediation team on the country's conflict.
The Sudanese foreign ministry expressed disagreement with the decision of the regional bloc and demanded that President Salva Kiir Mayardit be maintained as head of the mediation team.
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“Sudan expressed its disagreement and objection to a number of paragraphs that were mentioned in the draft final statement of the summit due to the fact that they were not discussed and agreed upon, and the delegation called on the IGAD Secretariat to delete them,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
At the 14th ordinary session of the IGAD session in Djibouti, it was resolved that President Ruto will chair a team that will lead negotiations.
“It has been resolved that Ethiopia be included as the fourth member of the IGAD high-level delegation for the peace process in Sudan and for President William Ruto to chair the quartet,” the IGAD communiqué reads.
Presidents Salva Kiir (South Sudan), Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somalia), and Ismail Omar Guelleh (Djibouti) are the other members of the peace delegation.
"Quartet leaders to arrange a face-to-face meeting between General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the Chairperson of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan, and Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo in one of the regional capitals”.
The delegation is to secure a commitment from the leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary (RSF) to establish a humanitarian corridor.
The leaders expressed concerns over the continued fighting and the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the nation.
"Within three weeks, we will initiate an inclusive political process towards a political settlement of the conflict in the Republic of Sudan," it further states.
