Sudan

Kenya temporarily relocates embassy from Khartoum to Port Sudan

Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Naiorbi. (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

By Mwangi Maina | Thursday, July 4, 2024

Sources from Sudan informed The Eastleigh Voice that Nairobi has established a provisional base in Port Sudan for diplomatic engagements.

Kenya's embassy in Sudan has temporarily relocated to Port Sudan, where the Sudanese military authorities are currently based, amid the ongoing conflict in Khartoum.

Sources from Sudan informed The Eastleigh Voice that Nairobi has established a provisional base in Port Sudan for diplomatic engagements.

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According to an internal memo circulated among foreign service officers on Wednesday, Jeremy Laibuttah, formerly a senior director at Kenya's National Intelligence Service, is leading the mission as charge d'affaires until he formally presents his credentials.

Laibuttah was appointed by President Ruto in October last year as Kenya's ambassador, pending formal accreditation by Sudan's military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Relations between Nairobi and Sudan have been strained, exacerbated by accusations from Sudanese military leadership that Kenya harbours leaders of the paramilitary wing - the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.

Earlier this year, Nairobi's lavish reception of the Sudanese ex-Janjaweed leader Hemedti contrasted starkly with the treatment given to General al-Burhan, sparking controversy in Khartoum.

Hemedti, whose forces have been in conflict with al-Burhan's army since April last year, had been visiting various African capitals during his first diplomatic tour since the conflict began.

Sudan initially recalled its envoy from Nairobi in protest but subsequently reinstated him to his diplomatic post in Nairobi.

The chief of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo speaks to the Sudanese army commander, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in a past event. (Photo: AFP)