Raila Odinga, leader of the Azimio La Umoja Coalition and main challenger of William Ruto in the latest Kenyan presidential election, denied reports alleging that he had attacked the Kenyan president’s decision to withdraw recognition of the so-called SADR.
“The reports that I attacked Ruto’s decision to review Kenya’s policy on the polisario are erroneous,” wrote the former Kenyan Prime Minister on his official twitter account.
Odinga, who won 48.85% of the votes in the latest presidential election, added that he never mentioned polisario, stressing that he knows the importance of relations between Kenya and Morocco, which he described as “beneficial.”
The announcement of Kenya’s withdrawal of the recognition of the self-proclaimed SADR was made last Wednesday in Nairobi by new Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto after he received a congratulation message from King Mohammed VI on his inauguration as new Head of State of the East African country.
Kenya is currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council expected to vote end of October on a resolution on the Sahara. This English-speaking African country was one of the most important supporters of the Polisario.
So, Nairobi’s decision to withdraw its recognition of a phantom entity is serious diplomatic setback and a slap in the face of the separatists and the ruling Algerian junta which arms, shelters and funds the secessionist militias, while Morocco continues to gain a growing international support for its territorial integrity and sovereignty over its entire Sahara territory.