KQ staffer detained in DRC released after successful negotiations-PS Sing'oei

According to the PS, Lydia Mbotela, a KQ manager working in the DRC, was released after negotiations facilitated by Kenya's Military Attaché and Charge d'affaires.

"Deeply grateful to inform that Lydia Mbotela, KQ Manager in DRC, has just been released by the authorities in Kinshasa,"PS Sing'oei wrote on social platform X on Monday. 

"I commend the team at our Mission: our Military Attaché, the FRO and the Charge d'affaires, for this incredible work of negotiating our compatriot's release."

In late April, KQ Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka confirmed the staffers' arrests in a media statement, saying the two were apprehended by the Military Intelligence Unit in Kinshasa for "missing customs documentation on valuable cargo."

Mr. Kilavuka, on the other hand, faulted Kinshasa authorities for arresting the duo, claiming that they were being held in violation of a court order, and that the cargo in question had not been uplifted or accepted by KQ.

As the situation deteriorated, KQ suspended its flights to Kinshasha, stating in a statement that it was unable to provide its services effectively without its employees.