Kenyan EAC Force Mission commander in DRC resigns over death threats

The Kenyan commander of the East African Community regional force mission in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has resigned, citing threats to his security.

In his resignation letter, dated April 27, General Jeff Nyagah said he was exiting the mission because of what he termed as an aggravated threat to his safety and a systematic plan to frustrate efforts of the force.

According to Nyagah, in early January, he was forced to relocate after what he believed to have been monitoring devices placed by mercenaries, along with surveillance drones and other methods of physical surveillance at his residence.

He also cited, among other items, the suspension of the mission’s Facebook page by the DRC government and the failure by the same government to pay administrative costs, salaries and electricity bills at the EAC Force headquarters.

In September 2022, the DRC signed a troop deployment deal with the East African Community to help combat insecurity in the eastern DRC. The mission comprises soldiers from East African member states, including Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Uganda.

Nyagah was appointed commander of the force in September of last year, and Kenya approved the deployment of 1,000 soldiers for the new DRC force.

The force was created in hopes of curbing violence in eastern Congo, where the government is fighting M23 rebels and clashes have displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.