The East African Community- EAC Regional Force Commander Major-General Jeff Nyagah has exited mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo- DRC due to aggravated threat to personal safety and systematic plan to frustrate efforts of the force.
Gen Nyagah has since jetted back to Nairobi for consultations.
According to the letter addressed to the Secretary General of the EAC, Gen Nyagah said there was an attempt to intimidate his security at his former home by deploying foreign military contractors, who placed monitoring devices, flew drones and conducted physical surveillance at his home earlier this year.
“There has been a well-orchestrated and financed negative media campaign targeted at my personality and false accusations for the force’s complacency on the handling of the M23 label group,” he said.
He said the accusations were enhanced by the government of DRC to have the force rotated every three months which was not envisioned in the current mandate. The suspension of the Force’s Facebook account is an indication of possible sabotage of the regional force’s efforts.
He accused the government of DRC of failing to pay administrative costs which include the Force’s headquarters, staff accommodation, electricity as well as salaries for civil servants as per the agreement.
In November 2022, Kenya’s Parliament approved the deployment of nearly 1,000 soldiers for a new regional force in DRC. The approval followed EAC Heads of State Conclave on Inter-Congolese Dialogue deliberation to jointly deploy in Congo.
The soldiers later flew into Goma from Nairobi to fight rebels in DRC.
Last month, Uganda’s contingent of the East African regional force joined Kenyan troops to foster peace in the war torn Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo-DRC. Uganda will as well deploy 1,000 soldiers as part of the regional military force.
The North Kivu province is occupied by different militia groups including the M23 rebels who are fighting government forces and causing civilians to flee.
