Church group says Khartoum “seeking influence”

The supply of cheap Sudanese oil to Kenya would involve much more than a benefit or danger for Kenya’s economic future: it could intensify the civil war and render regional peace efforts ineffective, according to the Justice and Peace Task Force (JPTF) of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Regional Council, cited in a report by the Catholic Information Services for Africa (CISA) on Tuesday. It should not pass unnoticed that the Sudanese government appeared to be seeking influence in African countries in two ways: firstly by selling oil to them, often zero-rated under Common Market of Eastern Africa rules and, secondly, by using its oil profits to invest in African countries - for instance, in Kenya’s collapsed sugar industry, CISA stated. The JTPF, it said, maintained that Khartoum’s “scorched earth” policy to drive villagers away from their land (in a bid to facilitate oil production) “could cause an increase in the refugee population in Kenya, which already hosts more than 80,000 Sudanese”.

On 22 July, Sudan warned Kenya that it may stop importing Kenyan tea and coffee if the government there banned Sudanese oil imports. Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma’il said it was natural for Sudan to export oil to Kenya, and that any Kenyan government hindrance of the trade would have an adverse impact on both countries. On 10 July, Kenya announced that the country’s oil companies had been given official permission to import oil from Sudan at zero tariff, but it has since come under pressure from church and human rights groups to rescind that decision, especially in light of its mediation role on the Sudan conflict within the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development.