President Uhuru Kenyatta's hopes of cementing his regional legacy by introducing a 90-million market into the East Africa Community common market appears to be facing a threat after developments in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).



On Saturday, May 28, DRC's relationship with Rwanda hit a new low when the former barred RwandAir, Rwanda's flagship carrier, from operating in its airspace.

At the time, DRC, through its Government Spokesperson Patrick Muyaya, accused its neighbour of taking part in the war in its North Kivu region. Specifically, Rwanda was accused of backing M23 rebels who have been engaged in a battle with DRC's Government forces.

The M23 rebels had agreed to a ceasefire earlier in the year - negotiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta through what is routinely known in diplomatic circles as the Nairobi Peace Process.

In the statement over the weekend, Muyaya cautioned Rwanda against disrupting Uhuru's mission to end the war in the eastern part of the country.
"A warning was made to the Rwandans, whose attitude is likely to disrupt the peace process that is nearing its end with the discussions in Nairobi, where all the armed groups, except for the M23, are committed to the path to peace," Muyaya stated Friday.

Rwanda, on the other hand, denied taking part in the war and cancelled all its flights to DRC cities of Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, and Goma.

Last year, Uhuru, through Kenya Army Commander Lieutenant General Walter Koipaton, flagged off the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) as part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission to the DRC (MONUSCO).

At the time, the contingent was tasked with providing security to DRC civilians as well as staffers attached to the United Nations by neutralising the region's armed militia groups.

A few months later, reports emerged that the presence of the elite Kenya Defence Forces squad was being felt when, in April 2022, it emerged that five individuals attached to the IS-CAP terror group had been killed during an operation.
The relative peace provided through President Kenyatta's leadership have seen the entry of Kenyan businesses, including major corporates, into the lucrative DRC market.
Now, all that effort may be derailed by a simmering cold war between Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his DRC counterpart Felix Tshisekedi.

Two days prior to the cold war, 17 decapitated bodies had been found decomposing along the Ituri River on the Eastern side of the conflicted country.

Red Cross representative David Beiza told the press that some of the bodies had their heads chopped off and stored in separate boxes.

"So far, there are 17 heads, some found in a dugout canoe and others... in the bush, just beside the river. It is difficult to identify the victims because of the state of the bodies, but they must be civilians taken hostage who was killed by the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) rebels, "According to the army that made the discovery, there are 17 bodies. We are going there to verify this information," he told AFP at the time.

So far, the Eastern DRC region, which suffers the worst conflict, has a presence of nearly 120 rebel groups considered terror organisations which include ADF and Isis Central African Republic (IS-CAP). The insecurity has been going on for more than three years leading to the displacement of millions of people.

Since Uhuru gave the order, it is estimated that KDF has a presence of over 200 soldiers in DRC with peace-keeping efforts being undertaken in Nairobi.