Nairobi — Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party Leader Raila Odinga has scaled down his initial condemnation of Kenya's apparent move to cut ties with Sahrawi, a partially recognized State seeking independence from Morocco, saying he had been misreported on the matter.
The Orange Party, while quoting the former Prime Minister, had described President William Ruto's move to rescind Kenya's recognition of Sahrawi as unconstitutional since it lacked the backing of a resolution by the Cabinet.
PL @RailaOdinga has described the decision by @WilliamsRuto to sever relations with Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as unconstitutional since it was done without the approval of the cabinet. He says such unilateral decisions are hurting the image of Kenya.-- The ODM Party (@TheODMparty) September 16, 2022
Odinga however refuted the reporting as erroneous saying he acknowledges the importance of Kenya-Morocco ties and that he was only concerned by the proclamation of decisions of such a magnitude through what he termed as "roadside declarations" by the Head of State.
"I never mentioned Polisario (Sahrawi) and I know the important and beneficial relations between Kenya and Morocco," Odinga said on Friday.
"I questioned the trend of roadside declarations on weighty issues," he went on to state.
President William Ruto however reiterated Kenya's commitment to UN-led efforts towards the amicable resolution of the dispute over Sahrawi, retracting an earlier decision to "initiate steps to wind down the entity's presence in the country."
President Ruto made the comment on Wednesday after receiving a message from Morocco's King Mohammed VI.
The announcement attracted mixed reactions from foreign-policy analysts with a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who declined to be named, saying it "came as a bit of a surprise."
State House later retracted part of a twitter thread on the matter only maintaining its commitment to the UN framework to resolve the conflict in an amicable manner.
"Kenya supports the United Nations framework as the exclusive mechanism to find a lasting solution of the dispute over Western Sahara," Ruto's tweet read.
Kenya is among 41 UN member states which recognize Sahrawi and has been at the forefront championing for the de-escalation of the conflict between Sahrawi and Morocco.
Sahrawi's leader Brahim Ghali had attended Ruto's inauguration on Tuesday in his capacity as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) President.
Sahrawi Republic has been seeking to transition form a semi-autonomous region to self-rule, a push that Morocco has vehemently objected opposing proposals for Western Sahara to decide its future through a referendum.
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Talks on the matter have not yielded much consensus in the past despite Morocco having committed to open dialogue following its readmission to the African Union (AU) in January 2017 after a 33-year absence to protest the recognition of Western Sahara.
The UN Mission for the Referendum on Western Sahara (MINURSO), the United Nations framework on Sahrawi, has been renewed at least twice amid sustained efforts to build consensus between Sahrawi and Morocco.
The latest extension of MINURSO's mandate was announced in October 2021 when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) renewed the mission's tenure for a year-long period lapsing on October 31, 2022.
The UNSC resolution received 13 votes in favour and two abstentions from Russia and Tunisia.
The Western Sahara question has threatened to destabilize the Kenya-Morocco ties in the past, the most significant incident occurring when Western Sahara opened an embassy in Kenya in February 2014.
Kenya was also forced to issue a clarification in April 2021after Ruto reportedly endorsed Sahrawi's bid during a private audience with El Mokhtar Ghambou, Morocco's Ambassador to Kenya.
According to the Moroccan envoy, Ruto had during the said meeting maintained that Kenya should remain impartial and support a UN peace initiative on the matter.
"Kenya should never give up its neutrality and should rather work directly with the UN to support the peace process on the Sahara issue," the envoy quoted Ruto as saying.
"As a non-permanent member of the Security Council, it is in Kenya's interest to support the UN peace process regarding the Sahara issue in compliance with the Heads of States Decision 693."
