Govt Dismisses Concerns That DRC Crisis Will Jeopardize Raila’s AUC Bid

As the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) crisis escalates, Raila Odinga’s allies have expressed concern that President William Ruto’s handling of the situation might hurt Raila’s chances in the upcoming African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship vote.

With only two weeks remaining until the AUC vote, some of Raila’s allies have warned Ruto against making diplomatic missteps that could cost Kenya crucial support.

Taking to his X (formerly Twitter) account, Saboti MP Caleb Amisi raised concerns and cautioned Ruto against actions that could jeopardize Raila’s bid.

“Dear Ruto, one vote is crucial in this AUC election. Please don’t interfere with Congo by making geopolitical blunders in this crisis. If you damage Kenya’s relations with Congo, you risk losing votes from Burundi, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and possibly Rwanda,” Amisi wrote.

On its part, the government has sought to ease these concerns assuring that Kenya remains committed to an all-inclusive dialogue asserting that Kenya’s position will not hurt Raila’s candidature.

“Kenya’s position on the DRC conflict is an all-inclusive dialogue. How can this hurt our candidate? Ours is to continue to bring pressure to bear on all the parties to come to the negotiating table,” PS Foreign Affairs Korir Sing’oei assured.

So far, the all-inclusive dialogue is not going well as DRC President Felix Tshisekedi snubbed talks convened by Ruto and instead, attended a Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Zimbabwe.

Ruto, the chairperson of the East African Community (EAC) convened a meeting with East African presidents on Wednesday, January 29, to discuss the worsening security crisis in the DRC.

EAC Presidents including Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Burundi’s Évariste Ndayishimiye, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, attended the meeting with the main prospect Tshisekedi giving a no-show.

Through his spokesperson, the head of state revealed that he was going to miss the meeting due to scheduling conflicts.

Already, experts allege that Ruto has put Kenya in a difficult position regarding the crisis after making a diplomatic blunder by speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron. This comes as the DRC accuses France of playing a role in the conflict by supporting the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.

In July 2024, Kenya formally submitted Raila Odinga as its candidate for the highly contested AUC chairmanship. Since then, the former Prime Minister has been touring the continent to strengthen his candidacy and garner support.

The elections are scheduled for February 15.