The world has witnessed many brutal militias, but few have evolved into formalized instruments of state power while retaining their savage origins like Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF). To understand the RSF today, one must trace its lineage back to the infamous Janjaweed militia, whose name became synonymous with genocide in the early 2000s. The story of their transformation is one of calculated brutality, strategic deception, and political complicity. It is a tale that implicates global powers, regional players, and, most recently, Kenya’s President William Ruto, whose engagement with the RSF is a stain on the conscience of the Kenyan people.
The Janjaweed emerged in Darfur, Sudan, as a proxy force for the government of Omar al-Bashir in the early 2000s. Composed largely of Arab nomadic tribes, these militias were unleashed upon non-Arab communities as part of Bashir’s counterinsurgency campaign against rebel groups. What followed was an unrelenting wave of terror: villages were burned to the ground, thousands of women were raped, and an estimated 300,000 people were killed, with over 2.5 million displaced. The United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) would later classify these actions as genocide, yet global accountability remained elusive.
As the international community imposed sanctions and pressure on Sudan, the regime sought to rebrand the Janjaweed. In 2013, under the directive of Bashir, the Rapid Support Forces were officially established, incorporating Janjaweed fighters into a seemingly formal paramilitary unit. The move was a strategic play to provide plausible deniability for state-sponsored atrocities while securing a force loyal to Bashir outside the conventional military. At the helm of this newly minted RSF was Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, a former Janjaweed commander whose rise from a camel trader to one of Sudan’s most powerful men would be paved with blood.
Hemedti’s RSF quickly proved to be more than just a rebranded Janjaweed. Their brutality extended beyond Darfur to crackdowns in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and the heart of Sudan itself. When the Sudanese people rose against Bashir in 2019, the RSF played a key role in suppressing protesters. In June of that year, RSF fighters orchestrated the infamous Khartoum Massacre, where over 120 peaceful demonstrators were slaughtered, and scores of women were raped in a campaign of terror designed to quash the pro-democracy movement. International condemnation followed, but again, no meaningful action was taken against Hemedti or his forces.
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Despite these atrocities, the RSF found favor with regional and global actors. They were deployed as mercenaries in Yemen, fighting on behalf of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in their war against the Houthis. The Gulf states, eager to secure Sudanese manpower without deploying their own forces, showered Hemedti with funds and weapons, further emboldening the RSF. Meanwhile, European nations engaged with the RSF as part of anti-migration efforts, effectively outsourcing border control to a force with a documented history of human rights abuses. The hypocrisy was glaring: the same nations that sanctioned Sudan for genocide in Darfur were now indirectly financing the very men who carried it out.
Fast forward to 2023, Sudan plunged into a full-scale civil war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). This war was not about democracy or national stability but a brutal power struggle between Hemedti and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The RSF, once a tool of the state, had grown too powerful, challenging the SAF for control. The result was a catastrophic conflict that saw the RSF turn its savagery on civilians once again. Reports from Darfur detailed ethnic massacres eerily reminiscent of the early 2000s. Entire communities were wiped out in targeted killings, women and children were enslaved, and hospitals became battlegrounds. The United States, the European Union, and the United Nations imposed new sanctions on RSF commanders, yet the militia continued to receive funding and arms through illicit networks.
Against this backdrop, Kenya’s President William Ruto inexplicably chose to engage with the RSF. At a time when Sudanese civilians were enduring some of the worst human rights abuses in modern history, Ruto extended legitimacy to a warlord responsible for those very atrocities. His administration’s overtures to Hemedti not only tainted Kenya’s diplomatic standing but also betrayed the very principles of Pan-African solidarity and justice. It was a move that defied logic and decency.
The rationale for Ruto’s dalliance with the RSF remains unclear, but whether driven by economic interests, political maneuvering, or sheer ignorance, the consequences are dire. By entertaining Hemedti, Ruto has signaled to the world that Kenya is willing to overlook genocide, war crimes, and mass rape for political expediency. This is not just a betrayal of Sudanese victims but also an insult to Kenyans who have long stood against tyranny and impunity.
No sane government in the world should support the RSF. Their record is one of unrelenting brutality, opportunistic alliances, and flagrant disregard for human life. Nations that engage with them lend credibility to an entity that should be dismantled, not legitimized. The RSF is not a governing force, nor a stabilizing entity; it is a marauding band of war criminals masquerading as a military outfit.
For his actions, Ruto owes Kenyans an apology and, more importantly, his resignation. His reckless engagement with the RSF is not just a diplomatic misstep—it is a moral failure of the highest order. At a time when Sudanese civilians are being exterminated, Kenya should be championing justice, not shaking hands with warlords.
History will remember who stood with the oppressed and who dined with their oppressors. If Ruto chooses the latter, he will find himself on the wrong side of history, his legacy forever stained by the blood of Sudan’s innocent.
The world must reject the RSF. Kenya must reject the RSF. And Ruto must be held accountable for his grievous misjudgment.
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