Kenya’s president William Ruto has pulled down a tweet that severed diplomatic ties with the Sahwari Arab Democratic Republic. He revoked Kenya’s recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as an independent state, saying he will initiate steps to wind down the Entity’s existence in Nairobi.
President Ghwari from Sahwari attended Ruto’s inauguration on Tuesday and decided to revoke Kenya’s recognition of Western Sahara comes after Ruto met the Moroccan Foreign Minister.
The Sahrwari republic also known as Western Sahara is a partially recognized state, recognized by 41 UN member states, located in the Western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, but controls only the easternmost one-fifth of that territory.
Between 1884 and 1975, Western Sahara was known as Spanish Sahara, a Spanish colony. The SADR is one of the two African states in which Spanish is a significant language, the other being Equatorial Guinea.
The SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front (a former socialist liberation force which has since reformed its ideological and political views) on 27 February 1976, in Bir Lehlou, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about 25% of the territory it claims. It calls the territories under its control the Liberated Territories or the Free Zone.
The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory to be occupied territory, while the Moroccan considers the much smaller SADR- territory to be a Buffer zone.
The claimed capital city of the SADR is El – Aaiun (Laayoune) (the former capital of Western Sahara). Since SADR does not control El- Aaiun, they have a temporary capital which moved from Bir Lehlou to Tifariti in 2008. The seat of the SADR government is located in the Sahrawi refugee camp in Tindouf, Algeria.
Over 173600 Sahwari refugees are estimated to live in five camps (Awserd, Boujdour, Dakhla, Laayoune, and Smara) in Tindouf, Algeria.
The SADR maintains diplomatic relations with 41 United Nations states and is a full member of the African Union. From the declaration of independence on 27 February 1976 to august 1982, the head of state of the SADR was known as the chairman of the revolutionary council. The office of the president was established in August 1982, after a change in the constitution made by the fifth general congress of the Polisario Front, where it was decided the post was to be held by the secretary general of the Polisario.
The first president was Mahamed Abdelaziz from August 1982 until he died in 2016. The current president is Brahim Ghali since 12 July 2016, with no term limit.
Brahim Ghali was born on 16 September 1949 in Smara. He served as the former SADR ambassador to Algeria and Spain.
Ghali has served as a historical figure and a key role in the struggle of the Sahwari people for self-determination and independence from Morocco. He was instrumental in the creation of the Movement of the Liberation of the Sanguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab, the 1970 Zemla Intifada against Spanish rule, the foundation of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front) in 1973 and the Sahrawi republic in1976.
He also played a major role in the Western Sahara war and the establishment of MINURSO, the UN peacekeeping mission for Western Sahara.
