The Main Body of the Kenya Signals Company (KENSIG) deploying to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was Saturday November 19 flagged off at Embakasi Garrison, Nairobi.
KENSIG is part of the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in DRC (MONUSCO), their primary task is to provide and support communication connectivity and information technology services to the Mission and the Force.
It is a key component in such a mission. Deputy Army Commander (DAC) Maj Gen Peter Muteti flagged off the about 50 personnel to join other troops from Kenya and regional countries who are in eastern DRC for peacekeeping mission.
The departing KENSIG Main Body is led by the Company’s Second-in-Command Capt Sheilla Kathile.
Maj Gen Muteti urged the troops to diligently strive towards delivering on the mandate and strictly observe the rules of engagement so as to remain a credible force as it has been demonstrated before by Kenya Defence Forces troops in UN missions.
“Being the first KENSIG troops, endeavour to uphold the exemplary performance registered by your predecessors who have already been deployed to DRC,” said Maj Gen Muteti.
He called on the troops to be true Kenyan ambassadors and cultivate good relations with the people of DRC and other contingents operating in the area.
Kenya has remained committed to regional and international peace and security through participation in peace support operations for the last four decades. Over the years, KDF troops have performed exceptionally well in Peacekeeping/Peace Support Operations, attracting international recognition for their professionalism, courage, and dedication to the achievement of mission mandates.
The Kenyan teams on the ground now are meant to create the infrastructure for deployment of the main combatants who are undergoing preparations at Eldoret Recruit Training School (RTS).
This is the third batch of troops from Kenya to be deployed to fight M23 rebels in the DRC in a joint regional operation.
Commander of the team Maj Gen Jeff Nyaga said they are there to help DRC stabilize.
“No one will take over Goma. We will work with all stakeholders to ensure this region is stable,” he said in Kivu.
President William Ruto ordered the deployment of 903 soldiers from KDF to join a regional peacekeeping mission - the East African Community Regional Force to the Democratic Republic of Congo (EACRF-DRC).The Kenyan troops will join others from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania on the mission in Eastern DRC.
This comes as M23 rebels and DR Congo troops clash heavily in North Kivu province.
Thousands of people have been displaced in the volatile eastern region of the DRC as fighting between the army and M23 rebels continues.
A mostly Congolese Tutsi group, the M23 (the March 23 Movement) leapt to prominence in 2012 when it briefly captured Goma before being driven out.
After lying dormant for years, the rebels took up arms again in late 2021, claiming the DRC had failed to honour a pledge to integrate them into the army, among other grievances.
The resurgence has ratcheted up diplomatic tensions, with the DRC accusing its smaller neighbour Rwanda of backing the group.
Rwanda denies providing any support for the M23 and accuses the Congolese army of colluding with the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) — a notorious Hutu rebel movement involved in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is leading peace talks in the region. He and East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Friday called for the immediate cessation of hostilities in the region and the restoration of peace.
Kenyatta who is the Peace envoy to the Horn of Africa led the peace talks.
In a joint communique on Friday, EAC Chairperson and Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye, his DR Congo counterpart Felix Tshisekedi and Kenyatta reaffirmed their commitment to seeing an end to the hostile situation in the DRC.
They called upon the international community to activate humanitarian support to alleviate the suffering of the displaced civilian population in and around Goma.
The leaders further called on all armed groups to surrender their arms and pursue their interests through the avenues provided for under the EAC-led Nairobi process, which took place from November 4 to 13.
Kenyatta and Rwandan leader Paul Kagame have agreed on the need for M23 rebels to cease fire and withdraw from captured territories in the eastern DRC.
Kenyatta and Kagame both agreed via telephone “on the need for an immediate ceasefire”, the EAC said in a statement on Friday. A second round of talks will take place in Angola’s capital Luanda next week.
“President Kagame agreed to assist the EAC - facilitator to urge the M23 to ceasefire and withdrawal from captured territories in line with the proposals given by the regional CDFs in their meeting in Bujumbura,” a statement said in part.
The statement said Uhuru briefed President Kagame on his trip to Goma and the appalling situation he witnessed in the internally displaced camp on his tour of Kinshasa and Goma.
“They both agreed on the need to implement and adopt the recommendations of the EAC- chiefs of defence (CDF, and in particular the need for the regional force to immediately take over and secure recently captured areas by the M23.”