Foreign Affairs Ministry condemns Kalonzo’s ‘reckless’ remarks on DRC crisis

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has dismissed Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s recent comments on President William Ruto’s efforts to mediate escalating tension in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Last week, EAC called for a ceasefire and urged the Congolese government to engage with all stakeholders in the conflict, including the M23, who captured Goma city last Monday and has been advancing south.

Musyoka over the weekend downplayed Ruto’s efforts in the peace talks, saying he had failed to support his former boss, retired president Uhuru Kenyatta, when he was the EAC’s peace envoy to resolve the conflict.

“When Ruto took over, the mistake he made was removing Uhuru Kenyatta as the chief mediator. He refused to facilitate him and the whole thing went to Angola. How does Ruto think he can solve the DRC crisis yet he has failed in Kenya?” the former vice president said on Saturday at a function in Kilome, Makueni County.

In response, the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Wednesday termed Musyoka’s comments regrettable and reckless for a leader who once served as the docket’s minister.

“The crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has nothing to do with Kenya or its leadership. We do not share borders nor do we have any interest in DRC other than peace, stability, and prosperity for its people,” the ministry said.

It said that the DRC crisis is “agelong and historical” and previous leaders in the region have sought to resolve it since the 1960s.

“Kalonzo’s attempt to seek to link President Ruto with the issues in DRC is not only an attempt to overstretch his political witch hunt for the head of state but also reckless, especially for a leader who served for a long time as a Minister of Foreign Affairs and was supposed to understand better the DRC dynamics,” the statement added.