President William Ruto has fueled the diplomatic crisis between Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) further saying he cannot arrest the rebels who launched a movement in Nairobi.
Kinshasa on Saturday recalled its ambassador from Nairobi following the launch of a new Congolese military alliance, including rebels last week.
The country also recalled its head of mission in Tanzania over what has been described as “for consultations”.
Congolese Opposition figure and former head of DRC’s electoral commision Corneille Nangaa introduced the Congo River Alliance, which includes M23 to “save the country” at a press conference in Nairobi on Friday.
Last night Ruto said the genesis of the diplomatic row was a demand by DRC’s President Felix Tsishekedi about the rebel group which he declined.
According to Ruto, Tsishekedi had asked him to arrest Nangaa and the M23 leaders following the press conference.
”DRC wanted to know whether we can arrest them. We told them Kenya is a democracy, we cannot arrest anyone who has issued a statement,” said Ruto.
“That is what a democracy is all about. In any case Kenya has the largest bureau of international media houses,” explained Ruto.
On Friday, Nangaa who is sanctioned by the US over his role in the 2019 DRC elections said at least nine armed groups, including the M23, had already joined him in his “Congo River Alliance” project for “national unity and stability”.
Some 44 million registered voters are set to cast ballots in the DRC on December 20, in concurrent presidential, parliamentary, provincial and municipal elections.
President Felix Tshisekedi, who came to power after a disputed election in 2018, is running for re-election.
Fraud remains a key concern ahead of next week’s vote. All the major opposition presidential candidates have urged vigilance.
The opposition has long accused the government of stacking the electoral commission as well as the Constitutional Court, the final arbiter of electoral disputes.
