By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Democratic Republic of Congo has announced the recall of its ambassadors from Kenya and Tanzania for consultations.
This decision on Saturday came after the launch of a new Congolese military alliance in Nairobi the Kenyan capital, an alliance that also allegedly includes rebels.
DRC had dispatched a military contingency to help fight insecurity in the region, under the UN-backed MONUSCO.
Spokesperson for Congo’s foreign ministry, Alain Tshibanda announced the recall of the envoys on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.
On his part, the envoy in Tanzania was recalled because Tanzania hosts the headquarters of the regional bloc, East African Community (EAC), a body which Congo is also a member of.
Earlier on Saturday, the Kenyan embassy’s head of mission was summoned to the foreign ministry in Kinshasa.
On Friday, Congolese politicians and groups including the M23 rebels, who have been accused of seizing territory in eastern Congo, along with a former Congo election commission chief, Corneille Nangaa launched the Congo River Alliance in Nairobi.
The alliance would bring together various Congolese armed groups, militias, social and political organisations, Nangaa, who was sanctioned by the U.S. for corruption and obstructing the 2018 election said on Saturday during the launch.
“I am looking for a lasting solution; all communities must live together in Congo,” Nangaa told Reuters on Saturday.
Congo is due to hold presidential and legislative elections on Dec. 20 in which President Félix Tshisekedi who has been critical of M23 will seek re-election.
Bintou Keita, head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO), said in a post on X that she was “extremely concerned by the creation of a new political-military platform”.
