By Ezekiel Kuloba
Shortly after his swearing in, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, has visited three neighboring countries.
These are Angola, Kenya and the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) in what has officially been described as a quest to promote bilateral relations.
However, his visit to Kenya must be viewed keenly because there is more to it than meets the eye.
The son of DRC’s father of opposition politics, the late Etienne Tshisekedi, indeed has every reason to be proud of Kenya.
His is a presidency “made in Kenya” for it was in Nairobi that he announced his presidential candidature in December 2018.
He had bolted out of the opposition deal that had proposed Martin Fayulu as the sole opposition candidate.
Tshisekedi’s election and the subsequent first peaceful transfer of power in DRC since independence is a welcome development that promises stability in a country ravaged by decades of war, insurgency and political instability.
Because of DRC’s geographical location, its political stability and economic progress is crucial for the development of the entire Great Lakes region.
Kenya stands to benefit from a peaceful, secure and stable Congo and the willingness by the country’s top leadership to strengthen bilateral relations is encouraging.
Unlike suspicion which characterized Kenya-DRC relations during Kabila’s tenure with Kinshasa pointing an accusing finger at Nairobi claiming it is a conduit for her stolen minerals , pundits have predicted improved relations between the two countries during the Tshisekedi presidency.
It is indeed in the mutual interest of the two countries to deepen their bilateral relations.
DRC, for example, relies on the Kenyan port of Mombasa for export and import of commodities from and to its landlocked eastern region including Goma, Bukavu and Lubumbashi.
Nairobi is also home to close to 40,000 Congolese refugees who prefer the city than the refugee camps.
In terms of trade, the balance of payment has been in Kenya’s favor with manufactured goods forming the bulk of exports to DRC.
With close to 90 million people, DRC offers huge market for Kenyan goods and services.
However, a lot has to be done in order to bring such potential benefits to fruition and Kenya should play a leading role in this regard.
Therefore, President Uhuru Kenyatta should ask the EAC member states to admit DRC into the East African Community.
There are more uniting factors than dividing issues between DRC and the EAC member states.
With a huge Kiswahili speaking population in its eastern region and a shared boundary with five other EAC member states, DRC is a high value addition to the community bringing on board with it a huge market and fertile source of industrial raw materials.
In addition, millions of East Africans have fallen in love with Lingala, one of the four national languages of DRC, thanks to Rhumba music.
Because of its lexical and phonological proximity to many other East African languages, Lingala can easily be taught to EAC member states in a bid to foster integration.
In return, DRC should follow Rwanda in embracing English and promoting Kiswahili to the rest of the country as it warms up to admission into the EAC.
However, for admission into the EAC fraternity to be successful, deliberate efforts must be made to improve relations between DRC and her neighbors to the east namely Uganda and Rwanda.
The African World War between 1998 and 2003 tainted relations between these countries with DRC accusing both Kampala and Kigali of supporting insurgents in the Kivu and plundering her minerals.
Although the war ended more than a decade ago, suspicion still lingers. Such an atmosphere is unhealthy for security and stability in the Great Lakes region and Kenya must be the peacemaker.
Kenya should consider expediting warmer relations with DRC. The willingness and readiness by Kenya to train DRC’s civil servants is a step in the right direction but more needs to be done.
Effective cultural exchange programs should be developed and implemented through educational scholarship. Easy capital and labor mobility between the two countries should be facilitated.
Kenya should lead by example in this regard. Congolese refugees in the country should not be mistreated but instead integration mechanisms should be developed to go resettle them or enable them access gainful employment in the country.
Application for work permits should be made simpler and less convoluted. In return, DRC should open up her market for Kenyan goods and services.
Ezekiel Kuloba is a social / political commentator