Poverty to blame for deteriorating security situation in Sudan – Ruto

The African Union is unable to end the conflict in Sudan due to its reliance on external funding for peace and security efforts, Kenyan President William Ruto said.

​While speaking in South Africa, where he addressed members of the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand, Ruto also told the warring Sudanese generals to “stop the nonsensical” war.

“We need to tell those generals to stop that nonsense; the military capacity is for fighting criminals and terrorists, not for fighting women and children and destroying infrastructure,” Ruto said.

Ruto is part of the three-member IGAD high-level delegation tasked with finding a lasting solution to the Khartoum crisis.

He said the ongoing bombing of key installations and infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, hospitals, and airports, is a waste of African resources.

South Sudan and Djibouti are the other African member-states charged by IGAD to persuade Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman to the negotiation table.

Both sides have so far sent representatives to Juba to reassure President Kiir that they are committed to a cease-fire.

This even as Khartoum remains in shambles as a result of ongoing violations of ceasefire agreements.

Violence erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces under the command of al Burhan and the paramilitary wing, – Rapid Support Forces (RSF), that play allegiance to Dagalo.

Over 850 civilians have since been injured in the war, with thousands more fleeing the country, according to the Sudan Doctors Union.

Fighting erupted in Sudan after a disagreement that had been brewing between the army and the RSF escalated.

According to the UN, over one million Sudanese may flee the country this year, exacerbating the country’s already dire humanitarian situation.

The Kenyan head of state is now appealing to other African nations to fund the African Union to avoid such a scenario in the future.

The Africa Union is funded primarily by development partners, a complex situation that makes it hard for the continental body to come up with its own independent decisions.

Ruto also urged developed nations to relocate their industries to Africa, where renewable energy is abundant, in order to reduce carbon emissions.

Relocating Western industries to Africa, according to Ruto, would significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2050.

Early this month, while addressing United Nations bodies in Nairobi, Ruto said that al Burhan and Dagalo will have to pay for the crimes being meted out to innocent civilians by the ongoing war.