Kenya-DRC diplomatic clash over DRC’s political-military alliance

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Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are in a diplomatic row amid growing tensions ahead of the December 20th elections in the civil war-prone country.

DRC’s opposition leader, Corneille Nangaa, announced on Friday that he was creating a political-military alliance with M23 rebels and other armed groups with the aim of resorting to peace.

While speaking in Nairobi, Nangaa said the goal is to string together various Congolese armed groups, militias, and social and political organizations in a region where insecurity fueled by ethnic rivalries and a tussle over resources has persisted for decades.

This incident sparked outrage in the Congolese government, which led to the Kenyan ambassador in Kinshasa being summoned as well as the DRC recalling its ambassador in response.

“Kenya strongly dissociates itself from any utterances or activities likely to injure the peace and security of the friendly nation of the DRC and has commenced an investigation,” said Kenya’s foreign minister, Musalia Mudavadi.

The minister further notes that Kenya is aware some DRC nationals have addressed the press and made statements that may be harmful, and that it would go ahead to investigate.

In an interview on Sunday, Kenya’s President William Ruto said he rejects the demand by the Democratic Republic of  Congo to arrest the country’s politician who launched the alliance.

“Kenya is a democracy. We cannot arrest anybody who has issued a statement. We do not arrest people for making statements; we arrest criminals,” the president noted.

The newly announced alliance has caused tension within the country, whose elections are set to be held on Wednesday, and according to Human Rights Watch, more than 1.5 million Congolese will be unable to vote in zones affected by the conflict, and millions more internally displaced people will face the same challenge.

The head of the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the DRC, Bintou Keita, said she is extremely concerned. “I call on all political actors to operate within the framework of the Constitution and to respect human rights and the rule of law,” she wrote on X.