Sudan Armed Forces General Yasser Al-Atta has challenged President William Ruto to a showdown of might amid the ongoing war in Sudan.
The tensions between Ruto and the Sudanese military leaders have deepened with accusations from the Al-Atta, who claims that President Ruto has been funding the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been battling for control of Khartoum since the collapse of the transitional government. RSF leader, Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, is reportedly a close ally of the Kenyan president.
In a video circulating online, General Al-Atta scornfully advised President Ruto not to rely on East African forces and challenged him to bring the Kenyan army to intervene directly in the conflict, taunting, “The state (Kenya) that supports you (RSF) and the mercenaries like you with money must also bring its army… leave the East African forces and come with your army to intervene, and we are waiting for you.”
This latest development suggested a strain in the relationship between the Sudanese military leaders and the President even further. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) rejected President Ruto as the mediator in the ongoing conflict, a role that was appointed to him by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Instead, SAF demanded that South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit head the mediation team.
General Al-Atta emphasized, “Sudan is not a game for every unscrupulous politician, profiteer, and mercenary,” signalling a clear stance against President Ruto’s involvement in any peace negotiations.
President Ruto, on his part, in a speech to the members of the Pan-African Parliament in South Africa, he called on the military leaders to “stop the nonsense.” He expressed grave concern over the extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, including roads, bridges, hospitals, and airports, inflicted by the military hardware allegedly acquired through African funds.
“We need to tell those generals to stop that nonsense,” President Ruto asserted, stressing that military capacity should be used to combat criminals and terrorists, not to target innocent civilians, including women and children.
President Ruto lamented the continent’s inability to effectively halt the ongoing conflict, attributing it to the African Union’s reliance on external funding for peace and security efforts.
The situation on the ground remains dire, with local medics reporting over 850 civilian casualties and thousands injured in the clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF paramilitary group since April 15.
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