The General's Red Carpet Causing Kenya-Sudan Tensions

Hello and welcome to the Friday edition of the Evening Brief where Kenya is yet again embroiled in another diplomatic tiff, this time with Sudan.

President William Ruto is at loggerheads with Sudan's leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, over his bromance with Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Chief General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The Head of State had hosted the RSF leader at State House on January 3, with Burhan's arch-rival receiving a red carpet reception after touching down at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a rare gesture for a non-Head of State.

The General was also received by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki and senior security officials of the Kenya Kwanza administration, proving the significance of his visit.

However, Ruto's move did not sit well with Burhan leading to the recall of? Sudan's ambassador to Kenya.?

According to Sudan's acting foreign minister, Ali Al-Sadiq, the recall was in protest to the red carpet reception given to a General they accused of destabilizing peace in the oil-rich nation.

"Sudan has recalled its ambassador to Nairobi for consultations in protest against the official reception organized by the Kenyan government for the commander of the rebel militia when he visited Kenya on Wednesday.

"Nairobi has forgotten the terrible violations committed by the rebel forces and the destruction they caused to the country's infrastructure, capabilities, and citizens' property," the Minister stated.

Notably, the outburst by Burhan's faction was anticipated given that a scheduled press conference In Nairobi by Dagalo was canceled hours after the State House meeting.

But what may be causing the beef between Ruto and Burhan?

At the center of the tiff is the close relations between Ruto and Dagalo. At one point, Sudan’s military even accused Ruto of hosting the paramilitary chief in Nairobi for medical treatment. This was at the height of the war in May 2023.

Nonetheless, Ruto, in an interview with France 24 in June 2023, denied the accusations.

“The main accusation against Kenya is that we have Hemeti in one of our hospitals in Nairobi. This is a false narrative," Ruto stated.

Despite his denial, Burhan continued to push for Ruto to be replaced as IGAD's mediator, a move that bore fruit in December.

The latest diplomatic gaffe served as a slap to the wrist to the truce that was in the works between Ruto and Burhan. Tensions between the duo seemed to have eased in November last year when Ruto hosted Sudan’s military leader at State House.?

While Kenya is yet to respond to the latest diplomatic tiff, be sure that the Evening Brief will bring you the latest developments on this front.

Catch Up Quick: Earlier, I had also noticed that Dagalo was the third foreign leader, behind Somalia Foreign Minister Ali Mohamed Omar and South Sudanese envoys, to be hosted at a brand new building at State House.

From the photos shared between January 2 and January 3,? the meeting room takes a different interior design from the main State House building.

Unlike the main house which is mainly dominated by white-painted walls, the walls of the new establishment are branded with white and grey colours, of rugged misty shade.

Meanwhile, here are five stories that have topped the Friday agenda.

1. A report by Google has revealed that the government made 58 requests to have some of the content on the internet pulled down. The global search engine indicated that most of the content that Kenya wanted brought down was defamatory and impersonated key government officials.

2. Following the rollout of Ruto's visa-free directive, the government through the Interior Ministry has since published guidelines that will control the arrival of visitors. Key among them is that all passengers will be subjected to an advanced screening process which involves taking biographic data of a passenger and the details of the aircraft.

3. Kenyans have been warned to brace themselves for price hikes of goods as local manufacturers plan price adjustments owing to attacks on commercial vessels along the Red Sea by the militant group Houthi. The attacks are causing delays in the importation of materials across the globe.

4. Are you a civil servant indeed of a loan for your studies? The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) on Friday called on civil servants to apply for the training revolving funds. Our very own Susan Mukami details the application process here.

5. Think you are a news guru? Take our quiz here to test how well you understood the week's most important stories.

This newsletter was written by Washington Mito and edited by Brian Muuo.

Derrick Kubasu contributed to the content.