“Trumpian” Ruto ruthlessly abandons Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Shortly after his inauguration, Kenyan President William Ruto backtracked on Kenya’s decades-long policy of supporting the African Union’s stance on The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic’s independence.
Merely one day after being elected, Kenyan President Ruto has adopted the US Stance of not recognizing the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
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Kenyan President William Ruto has abandoned the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in favour of deepening ties with Rabat.
President Ruto met with Sahrawi President Brahim Ghali who attended his inauguration. His disavowal of the SADR followed the meeting with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.
In a now-deleted tweet, he wrote: “Kenya rescinds its recognition of the SADR and initiates steps to wind down the entity’s presence in the country.”
The Trump-esque Twitter gaffe prompted the Foreign Ministry of Kenya to issue a communique to all embassies that in future all formal declarations will be made through formal diplomatic documents, not social media. This is seen as an intervention to prevent another monumental gaffe from the new Kenyan premier.
In a reply to the controversial tweet, President Ruto said that Kenya supports the United Nations framework “as the exclusive mechanism to find a lasting solution of the dispute over Western Sahara.
President Ruto indicated that relations with Morocco will, nonetheless, be accelerated “in areas of trade, agriculture, health, tourism, energy, among others, for the mutual benefit of our countries.” The abandonment of the AU stance on Western Sahara is seen as horse trading.
The announcement would have upended a decades-old policy in which African countries generally support the call for a referendum for the region claimed by Morocco as part of its territory.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) that has been partially recognised in the international arena by 41 UN countries.
In 1979, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution A / RES / 34/37 which provided “the unequal rights of Western Sahara people in their own discretion and liberty, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of the African Unity and the purposes of the General Assembly.”
This stance means that Kenya has joined the United Stated of America in recognizing the Kingdom of Morocco against the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, the only African country to do so.
