Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed bilateral agreements that are geared at improving both countries’ relations in dealing with matters of war on terrorism, maritime and aviation security, and immigration. The deal will employ cooperation on counter-terrorism, weapon smuggling, regularized immigration, customs control, and cybersecurity.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his DRC counterpart Felix Tshisekedi signed deals that will especially benefit DRC which has been battling rebel groups and most recently Designated Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) in the eastern region of the country. While the deal is multi-faceted, it will be instrumental in stimulating defense cooperation to promote peace, security, and stability.
Intelligence has indicated that a substantial number of ISCAP come from the larger East Africa region especially Kenya and Uganda and as such immigration cooperation is crucial to ensure that the group doesn’t expand further. The fact that Swahili is the language spoken in eastern DRC where ISCAP has a presence; makes the recruitment of jihadists easier. In the past, intelligence revealed that ISCAP’s financial network operated out of Kenya, as well as a money courier believed to be travelling from Kenya, was arrested in Kasindi before disappearing. Thus, the agreement will be a stepping stone in decapitating the financial network that has been funding the insurgency in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
The deal also comes amid reports that Kenya has sent an additional 200 more peacekeeping troops to the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in DR Congo (MUNOSCO). The sending of the peacekeepers who are majorly headquartered in eastern DRC is a clear dedication by Kenya to foster peace in DRC where most towns and villages have been deserted by the residents due to the ISCAP threat.
In terms of small arms and weaponry, while Kenya is seeking a market for the surplus production of its small arms factory, DRC needs all the support it can get as ISCAP has been on a rampage to acquire weapons through attacks on military bases in Beni and as such a better-equipped military will be formidable against the jihadis. Additionally, the two nations will be better poised to deal with weapon smuggling as DRC will cooperate and use Kenya’s Mombasa port making the noose of monitoring and inspection of cargo tighter and prevent the smuggling of weapons that are used against security actors and civilians.
However, the most crucial deal is the counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries as they have both been fighting various elements of Islamist outfits. The fact that Kenya has the most powerful military and security infrastructure in the region will benefit DRC in dealing with ISCAP which receives constant accolades from ISIS-Central. The cooperation albeit the exact details not revealed will likely range from kinetic operations to cybersecurity which has been instrumental in tracking the terrorists’ actions online and their communities. DRC can use Kenya to benchmark and employ the strategies that have worked in localizing and preventing the spread of al Shabaab activities just in the northern frontier. With intelligence indicating lone cells in other provinces in DRC it will be paramount to use the resources offered by Kenya to eradicate the cells and prevent the expansion of ISCAP’s AOR.
Kenya has traditionally supported peace bids in DRC, which has endured perennial wars. In 2013, Kenya hosted Congolese parties as they signed a peace accord with the rebel group M23. Nairobi sees DRC’s fledgling stability as good ground to expand business opportunities and cooperation.
