Rabat – Kenya’s newly elected President, Willian Samoei Ruto, announced today revoking his country’s recognition of the Polisario’s self-proclaimed Sahrawi republic, and endorsing Morocco’s stance in the Western Sahara dispute.
Ruto made the comments following a meeting with Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Nasser Bourita, with the newly elected Kenyan president even announcing that he will move to “wind down” the Polisario Front’s presence in his country.
He also expressed his gratitude at receiving King Mohammed VI’s congratulations on becoming president, saying in a tweet: “At State House in Nairobi, received congratulatory message from His King Mohammed VI.”
The tweet continued, “Kenya rescinds its recognition of the SADR and initiates steps to wind down the entity’s presence in the country.” Following the Bourita-Ruto meeting, Morocco and Kenya issued a joint statement stressing the East African country’s support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara.
The statement reads: “Out of respect for the principle of territorial integrity and non-interference, Kenya fully supports the serious and credible autonomy plan proposed by the Kingdom of Morocco, as the only solution based on Morocco’s territorial integrity, to resolve the dispute.”
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It went on to add that “Kenya supports the United Nations framework as the exclusive mechanism to achieve a lasting and permanent political solution to the dispute over the Sahara issue.”
Prior to announcing his country’s support for Morocco’s territorial integrity, President Ruto had received from King Mohammed VI a message in which the Moroccan monarch congratulated him on his election as Kenya’s fifth democratically-elected president.
Arguing that Kenya’s August 2022 elections have further consolidated the country’s position as a beacon of democracy on the continent, the Moroccan monarch expressed satisfaction with the new Kenyan president’s pledge to strengthen and deepen bilateral relations between his country and various states in Africa and beyond.
Meanwhile, Ruto stressed his country’s willingness and commitment to work to strengthen relations with Morocco, praising the leadership of Majesty King Mohammed VI in promoting policies of tolerance in the Maghreb region, as well as his contributions to continental peace and security.
The news comes as a further indication of Morocco’s largely effective continental diplomacy, with Kenya joining a growing list of African countries that have embraced Morocco’s stance on the Sahara dispute.
However, the newfound Kenyan support for Morocco is particularly telling as the East African country has long had an ambiguous and sometimes even slightly pro-Polisario stance on the Sahara dispute.
In March of last year, Ruto, who was then Kenya’s Vice-President, took issue with the presence of a Polisario diplomatic mission in Kenya. He appeared to describe his country’s Western Sahara stance as problematic, saying: “The representation of the Polisario in Nairobi makes no sense.”
He also urged the African Union to once and for all put an end to the Western Sahara dispute by recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over the region.
“The conflict around the Sahara is only an excuse to allow Algeria to continue to squander the wealth of its people on lost causes,” he said. “Instead of causing unnecessary conflicts and divisions within the African Union, this pan-African body must ensure that the territorial integrity of the 54 members is respected according to the AU charter which prohibits interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries.”
