The Kenyan Foreign Ministry says it is strongly distancing itself from an opposition figure in the Democratic Republic of Congo who formed an alliance with rebels in Nairobi.

Kenya has “strongly distanced itself” from a Congolese opposition figure who forged an alliance with rebels in Nairobi, sparking a diplomatic row with Kinshasa.

Kenya’s foreign ministry said on Sunday it would investigate the political-military alliance after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recalled its ambassador in protest.

The so-called Congo River Alliance, which was launched on Friday, includes politicians from the Democratic Republic of Congo and groups like them M23 rebelswho captured territories in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Corneille Nangaa, a former head of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission.

In response to the development, the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday recalled its ambassadors to Kenya and Tanzania for consultations. The envoy to Tanzania was recalled because Tanzania hosts the headquarters of the East African Community bloc, which includes the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a statement, Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said Kenya was aware that some DRC nationals had made statements to the press in Kenya that were “hostile to the constitutional order of the DRC.”

“Kenya firmly distances itself from any statements or activities that could affect the peace and security of the friendly country of the Democratic Republic of Congo and has launched an investigation,” he said.

The investigation, the minister said, would seek to “determine the identity of the authors of the statement and the extent to which their statements fall within the scope of constitutionally protected speech.”

The new alliance, which Nangaa said aims to bring together various armed groups, militias and social and political organizations in Congo, is an additional problem in a region where insecurity has persisted for decades, fueled by ethnic rivalries and a dispute over resources.

“Subversive activities”

The diplomatic row comes amid rising security tensions ahead of December 20 Presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been plagued by civil wars for decades.

After several years of calm, the M23 rebels took up arms again at the end of 2021 and conquered large parts of the eastern province of North Kivu. The conflict has offset around seven million Congolese in their own country.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 1.5 million Congolese in conflict-affected areas will be unable to vote, and millions more internally displaced will face the same challenge.

Nangaa justified the formation of the new alliance by saying that the state was too “weak” to ensure order in the impoverished and war-torn country and that a new movement needed to fill the void.

Democratic Republic of Congo government spokesman Patrick Muyaya accused Nangaa of being “unpatriotic” and launching “subversive activities.”

The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bintou Keita, said she was “extremely concerned” about the newly announced alliance.

“I call on all political actors to act within the framework of the constitution and to respect human rights and the rule of law,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.