World

Head of regional force tackling east Congo violence resigns, Kenya denies

2023.04.29 12:10


© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Major General Jeff Nyagah of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), meets his soldiers as the Kenyan troops to the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF) arrive on their deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo November 16, 2022. REUTERS/

GOMA (Reuters) -The Kenyan commander of a regional force set up to tackle militia violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo said he had resigned due to obstruction and threats to his safety, adding to doubts over whether the mission can be effective.

In the letter dated Thursday, Major General Jeff Nyagah said he was quitting due to an “aggravated threat” to his safety and a “systematic plan” to frustrate the force’s efforts.

Diplomatic and Congolese government sources confirmed the letter’s authenticity.

However, Kenya Defence Forces said on Friday that Nyagah had not resigned, saying the letter written by him was fake, but that he had in fact been appointed to a domestic command role.

The seven countries of the East African Community (EAC) set up the EACRF military force last April to try to end bloodshed linked to decades of militant activity in Congo’s east.

But its mandate expired last month and EAC leaders have expressed differing views on how it should operate, with Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi demanding a more aggressive stance than the peacekeeping mandate proposed by others.

In the letter, Nyagah alleged foreign military contractors were sent to survey his residence in January, placing monitoring devices that forced him to relocate.

A spokesman for Congo’s army said in a statement that Nyagah was not the target of any surveillance and his safety was never threatened. He added that the contractors were military instructors legally hired by the Congo to train its troops.

Nyagah said in the letter he was the target of orchestrated “negative media campaigns” that accused the EACRF of being soft on the M23 rebel group, which launched an offensive in east Congo last year.

He also mentioned a push by Congo’s government to rotate the commander role every three months.

“My security as the Force Commander is not guaranteed,” Nyagah said. “The ongoing frustration has rendered my mission untenable.”

An EAC spokesperson did not comment on the allegations.

Congo has been openly critical of the EACRF since the start of the year, accusing it of failing to rein in the M23, and the renewal of its mandate is still under discussion.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 97,846.22 1.45%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,409.46 3.42%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.05%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 255.46 0.03%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 650.15 3.91%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.46 0.47%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.425333 5.81%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.01%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.05 7.20%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,408.31 3.55%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.211339 4.83%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 41.27 2.19%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.26 13.91%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000026 2.42%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 4,035.86 3.24%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.486436 40.23%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 97,538.13 1.51%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.49 32.16%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.30 12.96%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 500.15 1.77%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,407.38 3.35%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.41 1.86%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.00002 0.30%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.60 1.27%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.13 7.10%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 98.53 8.48%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.57 3.67%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.71 14.37%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,588.00 3.33%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.15161 9.65%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.199841 5.57%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.22 6.02%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 0.999736 0.47%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.566035 17.82%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 29.49 4.83%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.66 4.69%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.152365 0.93%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.01%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 511.00 3.88%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.40 12.79%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.75 0.45%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000047 3.03%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.856339 10.38%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.03%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.041345 21.69%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.66 3.77%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.47 13.99%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 3.20 2.75%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.16 10.91%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 51.50 10.98%