EAC | APPOINT | NYAGAH

The East African Community (EAC) member states have appointed a Kenyan general, Jeff Nyagah, as the commander of the joint regional force that is expected to be deployed in eastern Congo this week. 

Maj. Gen. Nyagah will be deputized by Brig. Gen. Emma Kaputa from the DRC. 

Last week, the DRC gave the green light to the joint deployment of troops by EAC member states in the conflict-riddled eastern Congo. 

The agreement endorsing the EAC's standby army deployment was signed on September 9 in Kinshasa at a function presided over by the DRC President, Felix Tshisekedi. 

According to the EAC secretary general, Dr. Peter Mutuku Mathuki, the initial deployment of the joint regional force will take six months and then be reviewed. 

The EAC is a regional bloc of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and the DRC. 

The joint regional deployment comes at a time when Burundi and Uganda have already deployed troops in eastern Congo. 

At the DRC's invitation, Uganda deployed troops in 2021 to fight the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) under Operation Shujaa. 

Eastern Congo is a haven for over 100 armed rebel groups, including the ADF, Red Tabara, Mayi-Mayi, M23, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), CODECO, FOREBU, among others. 

On June 20, this year, EAC leaders approved the deployment of joint regional troops to pacify eastern Congo during the 3rd Conclave meeting on the DRC crisis in Nairobi. 

Under the Nairobi Conclave, EAC leaders agreed to create a joint force to crack down on armed rebel groups operating in eastern Congo that refuse to surrender, unconditionally disarm, and participate in dialogue processes. 

The EAC Nairobi Conclave meeting came at a time when M23 rebels gained control of Bunagana, a town in DRC near the Ugandan border.