Amb. Khalid Musa Dafalla Musa addressing a press briefing at the embassy in Kigali, (Photo: Daniel Sabiiti)
The Sudanese Ambassador to Rwanda, Khalid Musa Dafalla Musa, has called on President Paul Kagame to intervene and lead an African effort to end the current conflict in Sudan.
The call comes days after the African Union (AU) condemned the Sudan conflict, which has seen escalating violence and atrocities in El Fasher, North Darfur by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In efforts to de-escalate the crisis, the AU also announced Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni as the mediator to ensure a peace process and deal is reached.
During a press briefing in Kigali on November 3, Ambassador Dafalla Musa said that the AU has failed to deliver on its mission of restoring security in his country and, for many reasons, banked on Rwanda as a possible mediator who can deliver.
“President Kagame has credibility, confidence from the Sudanese people, experience, and wisdom to provide for this conflict in Sudan. We will definitely welcome his efforts in this regard, within the African Union or any group of African leaders to come and mediate in Sudan,” Dafalla Musa said.
Other reasons Dafalla Musa stated that Rwanda has a track record as a leading example of peacekeeping in the Darfur region and beyond; has through reconciliation and demobilization models managed to recover from the 1994 genocide and earned the trust to deliver for the people of Sudan.
With this country profile, Musa said that Sudan needs Rwanda for two things: to be a peace partner to enable Sudanese people to reach a fair solution of peace and stability through strengthening bilateral relations.
Secondly, is to use Rwanda’s position within the AU circles and other UN organizations- that has been earned by President Kagame to secure a peace deal.
Musa stated that the Sudan crisis is a test for the AU in resolving current and future conflicts in Africa.
“If they cannot solve the problem of Sudan, they can never…they will fail in other exercises in Africa. This is like a test for African Union political will,” he said.
He explains that this is because the problem of Sudan is solvable, it has foreign intervention, aggression, arms supply through neighboring countries, and 90% of the mercenaries are Africans- thus the AU should pass this test with African leaders being up to the challenge.
“We appeal to President Paul Kagame to lead this effort with African leaders to bring peace and stability in Sudan,” he urged.
UN and War Mongers / Perpetrators:
Amb. Khalid Musa Dafalla Musa thinks the solutions to the Sudan Crisis can come from Rwanda based on its leadership, history and exemplary unity and reconciliation models (Photo: Daniel Sabiiti)
Dafalla Musa showed evidence of the RSF forces killing civilians, destroying public infrastructure, hiring and ferrying mercenaries (from 17 nationalities) and especially with the backing of the UAE- which he said has been behind the supply of arms to the RSF militia.
In his evidence, he showed that some mercenaries have been arrested with identifications from countries like Ukraine, Colombia, Ethiopia, South Sudan among other neighboring countries which he alleged they act as porous routes for illegal mercenary entry points.
In order to stop massive hunger and deaths, Musa stated that the Sudanese government vehemently rejects the involvement of the UAE as a facilitator of the mediation process since it is allegedly fueling the ethnic-oriented crisis that intends to create an uprising of minority Arabs.
Way forward:
Despite being grateful to many countries and international organizations that have condemned the crisis, Amb. Musa urged the UN Security Council to declare the RSF as a terrorist group so that immediate action can be taken upon their alleged war crimes (rape, starvation, massacres) that have internally displaced 14 million and hundreds of thousands dead/injured.
Musa also called on the UN to ensure immediate action to open routes for humanitarian aid that have been blocked to use hunger as a weapon of war.
With a government-led peace roadmap in place, Musa said that Sudan plans on using the Rwandan demobilization model to reintegrate all RSF militia into a single government force, but also noted that the RSF as a group will not be recognized as a force nor in political circles.
Embassy In Khartoum:
The Envoy said that he looks forward to the reopening of the Rwandan embassy in Khartoum as soon as the war against the Rapid Support Forces militia group ends.
Following the successful evacuation of all Rwandan citizens back home, continued collaboration on crisis information sharing, and hosting Sudanese communities in Rwanda, Dafalla Musa says they would love to pay back this hospitality, resume normal diplomatic relations, and exchange.
Sudanese Student’s Discipline:
Dafalla Musa also commented on the recent reported cases of public indiscipline among Sudanese students living in Rwanda, especially fighting with motor-taxi riders and security officials, which have reached a diplomatic involvement and settlement on both sides.
Dafalla Musa said he is concerned about the discipline of students but said the relationship between Rwandans and the 6,000 Sudanese living in Rwanda has a bigger picture- of growth in three years.
This picture includes having over $20 million in Sudanese investments, 20% of foreign students coming from Sudan, and establishing the first laminated glass factory in Rwanda.
He stated that there are no organized crimes, these are individual isolated cases of indiscipline; what is important is that the whole community is behaving well and the big picture is brighter than these isolated incidents.
