The Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday formally protested Kenya’s appointment of a consul-general to Goma, a city now under the occupation of M23 rebels in the eastern part of the country.
The latest rejection piles on the fractious relationship between Nairobi and Kinshasa, with the latter having previously rejected credentials of an ambassador to the DRC earlier last year.
But Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the Congolese Foreign Minister, phoned her counterpart in Nairobi, Musalia Mudavadi, on Saturday to express reservations about not being consulted.
She argued that the posting to a place now under the occupation of M23 rebels amounts to disrespecting the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The DRC recalls that the appointment of any foreign consular position on its territory is subordinate to its prior approval and to the issuance of the exequatur by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kinshasa,” the Congolese minister said in a statement.
An exequatur is a formal acceptance by the hosting state of a foreign state's appointment to head a consulate.
Diplomatic appointments are traditionally communicated to and approved by the host government before public announcements and deployments. For ambassadors, a document called agrément is issued to the sending state.
These documents, however, may be requested when the nominees have passed vetting, if required.
She said Kinshasa expects Nairobi to have followed the procedure first before naming any new office holders for Goma.
But the main reason was that Goma, which lies in North Kivu province, has been under M23 rebels since March, essentially keeping Kinshasa out of reach of the region.
“The DRC also recalls that the City of Goma, located in the mining province of North Kivu, remains under illegal occupation of the M23/AFC, with the support of Rwanda, a situation characterised by serious human rights violations…as the recent report of the United Nations Report as well as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“In this context, any announcement relates to the appointment of a consul at Goma is particularly inappropriate and cannot be considered without the approval of the Congolese authorities.”
M23 rebels who operate under the Congo River Alliance (AFC) have held both North and South Kivu provinces since March, even though they are currently in talks with Kinshasa, mediated by Doha, Qatar.
For Kenya, however, these rebel groups have been a source of friction with Kinshasa, with Nairobi having hosted the groups to form the AFC and refused the Congolese request to extradite them to face treason charges.
As such, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi followed it by refusing to accept credentials of Kenya’s new ambassador to Kinshasa Shem Amadi. Earlier, Kenya’s parliament refused to approve the nomination of Charlese Githinji to hold the Goma position as consul general.
Consuls-general are not normally required to be vetted but parliament has often chosen to check the qualifications of those, especially from outside of the foreign service.
It was still unclear how the consul-general could report to a city that was still under war, technically although she could still work from a neighbouring country or headquatres in Nairobi.
Congolese protesters had earlier burnt and looted the Kenyan embassy premises in Kinshasa, to protect Kenya’s alleged support for M23. Nairobi denied the accusations but demanded Kinshasa meets the repair costs.
