confidentially speaking
The Africa Confidential Blog
Kenya takes on Rabat on Western Sahara
Blue Lines
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has waded into the African Union's dispute over the status of Western Sahara, incurring Moroccan displeasure by putting the conflict on the agenda of the Peace and Security Council (PSC), which Kenya chairs, on 16 February. Kenya, along with South Africa, hosts an embassy of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, representing the Polisario Front's claim to Western Sahara.
'The objective of the meeting will be to examine the conditions that have given rise to current tensions and violence and assesses whether the policy measures and strategies adopted at the international, regional and national levels are bringing peace to Saharawi,' a note issued by Nairobi reads.
The long-running conflict broke into a shooting war again in November 2019. The status of Western Sahara was left unresolved when Morocco joined the AU in 2017. All attempts to discuss the disputed territory in AU forums have been resisted by Rabat's diplomats.
Last March, Kenyatta called for an 'immediate ceasefire' and for a greater role for the AU led by Algerian diplomat Smaïl Chergui – then AU Commissioner for Peace and Security. That prompted Morocco's Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, to warn his Kenyan counterpart Raychelle Omamo that such discussion 'risks provoking severe divisions among PSC members'. A year on, the schism is still sharper.
