The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and a coalition of allied political and armed groups signed a political charter in Nairobi to establish a parallel government.
Reports indicate the charter was signed Sunday morning, February 23, marking a move by the RSF to formalize governance over territories under its control.
The charter, described by signatories as the foundation for a 'Government of Peace and Unity,' outlines ambitious goals including the creation of a secular, democratic, and decentralized state with a unified national army.
Among the prominent signatories is Abdelaziz al-Hilu, leader of a faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), which controls significant areas in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
RSF, which is said to have seized much of western Darfur and parts of Kordofan during the war, has faced accusations of widespread human rights abuses, including genocide.
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The conflict, which erupted in April 2023 over disputes about integrating the RSF into the regular military has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Over 12 million people have been displaced, triggering what the United Nations has called the world’s worst hunger and displacement crises.
The signing of this charter comes barely a week after Sudan slammed the Kenyan government for allowing RSF to hold a meeting in Nairobi to launch a parallel government.
In a statement on Wednesday, February 19, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Kenya of violating its obligations under international law, the United Nations Charter, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by hosting the meeting.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets the Kenyan government’s disregard for its obligations under international law, the Charter of the United Nations, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by hosting the event of signing a so-called “political agreement” between the terrorist Janjaweed militia responsible for ongoing acts of genocide in Sudan and its affiliated individuals and groups,” read the statement in part.
Sudan pointed out that hosting RSF leaders in Kenya was an indication that the Kenyan government supports the heinous crimes being committed by the militia in Sudan.
“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 an endorsement of and complicity in these heinous crimes,” the statement added.
However, Prime CS and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi later responded to the claims, clarifying that the meeting was not an endorsement of any faction but part of ongoing regional efforts to restore peace in Sudan.
"We note that this is not the first time groups in Sudan have sought solutions to their crisis by leveraging the good offices of neighbouring countries. Indeed, in January 2024, parties and stakeholders to the Sudanese conflict met in a neighbouring country to chart a way forward on inclusive dialogue and return to civilian rule.
"Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese civilian groups’ tabling of a roadmap and proposed leadership in Nairobi is compatible with Kenya’s role in peace negotiation, which enjoins her to provide non-partisan platforms to conflict parties to seek resolutions," he said.
