President William Samoei Ruto has flagged off 900 KDF soldiers to DRC to combat foreign armed groups. The Kenyan forces will be based in Goma, eastern DRC’s largest city.
“This deployment is significant and urgent as it responds to the collective aspirations of a sustainable peace in our region. We owe our brotherly duty to DRC until the job is done,” he said.
He was speaking on Wednesday at Embakasi Garrison when he flagged off the Kenyan contingent to the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under the auspices of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF).
Ruto on Wednesday called the mission “necessary and urgent” for regional security and said he and the DRC’s president had agreed on how Kenyan forces would work with Congolese and other forces on disarming rebels and peacekeeping in the country’s troubled east.
According to the Kenyan leader, East African countries have a collective responsibility to work together to end conflicts and violence that deny the region the space to prosper.
Kenyan troops which will be based in Goma, come at a time M23 rebels have seized Kiwanja town effectively cutting off Goma from the rest of the northern province.
Such a situation complicates KDF handling of the rebels and coordination with Kinshasa which accuses Rwanda of backing the rebels. Goma seats directly on the border with Rwanda.
The Minister of National Defense and Veterans Affairs, Gilbert Kabanda on Wednesday,said the government will do everything to quickly recover territories conquered by the rebels.
One of the quick solutions according to the Defence Ministers is the proposed increase in the number of personnel in the national army in order to constitute a homogeneous army.
Meanwhile, as the rebels continue to make strategic advances, going so far as to take control of the localities of Kiwanja and Rutshuru Center prompted the Congolese authorities to expel the Rwandan envoy to DRC, Vincent Karega.
The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels, which Kigali continues to deny, accusing in return the Congolese army of collaborating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Despite the situation on ground in DRC, sources privy with information say that there are ongoing behind the scenes diplomatic engagements between Kinshasa and Kigali in an attempt to reopen discussions between the Congolese and Rwandan presidents.
