National Assembly Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Chair Nelson Koech keen in fostering bilateral relations
His led committee sought answers from Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi to know the status of Kenya and DRC’s embassy
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has cooled the temperatures assuring Kenyans that the itches in diplomatic relations between the Kenya and Democratic Republic of Congo has already been solved
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations, Chaired by Belgut lawmaker Nelson Koech, Mudavadi revealed that had met President of the Republic of Congo Felix Tschekedi and other official on the matter and addressed it amicably
He said his meeting was prompted after the DRC authorities escalated last year’s row by arresting two Kenyans on a suspicious allegations of breaching air travel customs which have already been dealt by two states
According to the PM, the two Kenyans namely Lydia Mbotela[KQ Operations Manager] and another KQ employee were arrested by DRC military on allegations they were transporting already withdrawn currency to UK for reprinting back to the market, where their authorities claimed lacked backup documents
In the defence, responding to questions from the committee’s chair Nelson Koech, Musalia said that even in Kenya, the same practice do apply upon approval by the Central Bank of Kenya, which in similarity had been done in their jurisdiction
“Last week I was in DRC and spoke to President Felix Tschekedi as well as Cabinet Secretary for Affairs and we agreed to restore back our bilateral and diplomatic relations because we may lose a lot of we remain in loggerheads,” Mudavadi said
Mudavadi who doubles up as Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Kenya, disclosed that the country will soon send back their ambassador whom had been recalled on December, 2023 over yet again another diplomatic row particularly on political interests
We agreed to solve these issues because we are members of the same regional economic block
“The bank TMB and TSB with approval with CBK DRC was giving away currency that has been withdrawn from circulation to UK and be reprinted back to their country
It was unfortunate incident but we intend to reconcile on those differences and have already visited the President, CS affairs and I can confirm to this committee that the two Kenyans are not incarceration,” he clarified
On the question on whether governement can facilitate the return of Steven Bertrand Munyakho who is facing death row in Saudi Arabia as he inches closer to his date with destiny- Mudavadi said that there’s no fund for such arrangement from public coffers
He instead, said that they are reaching out to well wishers with the blessings from the ministry of foreign affairs to raise the Sh 123 million required to settle sheria court judgement in order to save Stevo from execution
The committee under the chairmanship of Belgut lawmaker Nelson Koech bleeded with the State Department of Foreign affairs to negotiate with the family and request for the extension of today’s deadline to enable concerned parties raise the required amount