June 18, 2025, Nairobi, Kenya – A recent exposé by the Nation Media Group and Bellingcat has confirmed Kenya’s deep involvement in the conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.
The exposé, following several months of undercover investigations, resulted in the discovery of Kenyan-labelled crates of ammunition inside an alleged RSF depot close to the recently recaptured Sudanese capital Khartoum. It provided a clear confirmation of Kenya’s deliberate decision to undermine regional peace efforts.
RSF has been implicated in the commission of serious atrocities, including massacres, ethnic killings, sexual violence, and the displacement of over 12 million Sudanese in the ongoing conflict. Kenyan authorities have on numerous occasions hosted RSF leaders, with the latest incident being on February 18, 2025.
On this specific occasion, with the support of the Kenyan government, RSF convened in Nairobi to form a parallel government. This action by the Kenyan authorities culminated in a breakdown of trade and diplomatic relations between Khartoum and Nairobi and continues to undermine regional efforts towards justice, accountability, and the promotion of peace in Sudan and the Horn of Africa.
Several reports by civil society and media have raised questions about Kenya’s involvement in the conflict in Sudan. A recent report by the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan found reasonable grounds to believe that the RSF and its allied militias committed war crimes, including rape, sexual slavery, pillage, forced displacement of civilians, and the recruitment of children under 15 for combat.
Kenya’s involvement in the conflict in Sudan and their support of the RSF in the conflict has further been corroborated through the hosting of several high-profile visits by RSF leaders to Nairobi, including General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo Mousa, who was on January 7, 2025, sanctioned by the U.S government, for his role in destabilizing Sudan and obstructing its democratic transition.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission and Muslims for Human Rights commend Nation Media Group and Bellingcat for the brevity of investigating and publishing what the government would have wanted to stay hidden.
The response from the Ministry of Defence that it did not recognize the crates of ammunition with Kenyan labels is insufficient. The ministry did not mention if Kenya has done any imports, international transfers, or diversion of weapons. KHRC and MUHURI demand that the Ministry of Defence come clean on this as well.
However, the evidence in the exposé that pointed to Kenya’s frontline role of facilitating and aiding the killings of Sudanese is overwhelming and irrefutable. We demand that this unholy alliance between the William Ruto regime and RSF stop, and those responsible for the imports, transfers, and diversion of ammunition be held to account.
Further, the government must immediately uphold and respect the international obligations under the United Nations, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Lastly, it must immediately refrain from engaging in the peace talks or mediation process regarding the conflict in Sudan because it fails to be an impartial arbiter.
• African 4 The Horn of Africa Initiative (Af4HA)
• Atrocities Watch Africa (AWA)
• Civic Freedoms Forum (CFF)
• Independent Medical Legal Unit (IMLU)
• Kariobangi Paralegal Network (KAPARANET)
• Kawangware Paralegal Network (KAYPAT)
• Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
• Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI)
• Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU)
• PAWA 254
• The Kenya Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-K)
• The Social Justice Centers Working Group
• Utu Wetu Trust
