Kenya denies supplying weapons to South Sudan

March 9, 2018 (JUBA) – Kenyan Foreign Minister Monica Juma Friday denied that its country is supplying weapons and ammunition to the warring parties South Sudan.

Juma was speaking in a joint press conference with the visiting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who is touring five African countries including Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Chad and Nigeria to bolster security alliance in the continent.

Different UN reports point that Kenya has to cooperate with the international community to impose an arms embargo to landlocked-South Sudan within the framework of the ongoing efforts to end the over four-year conflict.

In response to a question about the lack of cooperation from Kenya and Uganda in this respect, Tillerson confirmed the declared position of his government that an arms embargo should be enforced on South Sudan.

Following what the Kenyan top diplomat denied the involvement of her country ” in any supply of arms to any of the parties”.

“For the longest period of time, Kenya has been involved in the search for peace in South Sudan, and it would be foolhardy that we would invest in the search for peace while at the same time arming parties to that conflict,” Juma said.

“So I have to make it abundantly clear that Kenya has no intention of exacerbating that conflict, that Kenya is engaged in terms of efforts to normalize South Sudan, and it is not in our policy or our intention to get involved in supplying arms to either South Sudan,” she further stressed.

Last January, Adama Dieng is the U.N. secretary-general’s special adviser for the prevention of genocide accused Uganda and Kenya of contributing to the South Sudanese conflict.

“International partners have to start targeting the accomplices, intermediaries of the South Sudanese parties,” Dieng told The Voice of America on 29 January 2018

He stressed that the responsibility is to protect civilians in South Sudan lies also on the regional and international community.

(ST)