Kenya’s president tells Sudanese generals to 'stop the nonsense'

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - Kenyan President William Ruto called on Sudan’s warring generals Wednesday to “stop the nonsense.”

Addressing members of the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand near Johannesburg, Ruto said the generals are bombing everything including roads, bridges and hospitals and destroying airports using military hardware bought with African money.

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

Ruto said it is unfortunate that the continent cannot stop the ongoing conflict because the African Union does not have the capacity to do so because its peace and security efforts depend on external funding.

More than 850 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group since April 15, according to local medics.

Fighting erupted in Sudan last month after a disagreement that had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the RSF escalated.

The UN estimates that over one million Sudanese may flee from Sudan during the year.

"This conflict is a cruel blow for the people of Sudan, already staggering under the weight of a desperate humanitarian situation," said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths.

Ruto said that African countries should primarily fund the African Union, whose budget is currently mainly funded by development partners, leaving Africans unable to make their own decisions. He quoted the English saying “He who pays the piper calls the tune.”

Ruto also called on industrialized countries to relocate their industries to Africa, which he said has plenty of renewable energy that would help reduce carbon emissions.

He said the clearest path available to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 would be for industrialized nations to move industries to Africa because of the availability of enough green energy and high mineral resources that are shipped to the West for processing annually, causing emissions through the use of fossil fuels and other forms of non-renewable energy.

He added that if Western industries were relocated to Africa, it would sharply reduce carbon emissions.