The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Kenya have not always been close friends. However, being members of the same economic bloc and having to trade with each other has meant they relate cordially.

But the relationship has been getting cold over the past three years. The war in eastern Congo and its attendant side shows have not made things any easier. In fact, relations between Nairobi and Kinshasa seem to have worsened. Yet, commerce between the two sides appears to defy the odds.

This past week, diplomatic tensions rose after Kenya named a consul-general to Goma, the vibrant city in the eastern North Kivu province, which has been under the control of rebel group AFC/M23 since last February.

Kinshasa protested the appointment, with Foreign minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner calling Kenyan Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi to reiterate DRC's position: No Entry!

“The appointment of a head of a consulate post requires the prior agreement of the Congolese authorities and issuance of an exequatur by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said a statement from the Congolese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Kinshasa expects, to this end, to be officially notified by Nairobi through established diplomatic channels, and will respond exclusively through these same channels, in accordance with the rules of courtesy and mutual respect.”Ms Judy Kiaria Nkumiri was named consul-general in Goma in President Ruto’s latest reorganisation of the foreign service.

But this is a time of war and the M23 rebels have a grip of North and South Kivu provinces and even appointed governors for the two provinces, usurping the powers of the central government, whose military fled the area amid rebel invasion.

Businesses from eastern Congo depend on the port of Mombasa for exports and imports. For instance, in 2022, the DRC’s public shipping company, Lignes Maritimes Congolaises, began operations in Mombasa and a year later the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) ranked DRC as the third-largest market for the port of Mombasa with a share of 8.2 percent.

That year, Mombasa County authorities even launched a charm offensive to encourage Congolese traders to use the port, which is in fierce competition with Dar es Salam, Tanzania.

It is no wonder, then, that Congo bought the most goods from Kenya and Uganda last year, compared with trade with other East African Community neighbours.

But in a context of war, suspicions have persisted. The Kenyan president follows the situation in the DRC as the current chair of the East African Community, which is why appointment of the consul-general is seen by Kinshasa as legitimising the parallel administration installed in Goma by the rebels, allegedly backed by Congo’s nemesis and neighbour, Rwanda."Any announcement relating to the appointment of a consul in Goma is particularly inappropriate and cannot be considered without the approval of the Congolese authorities. The DRC therefore calls for caution and discernment in public communications in order to avoid any misunderstanding, speculation or appearance of legitimising the ongoing illegal occupation,” Kinshasa said last Saturday.

This row over Goma is not the first point of contention between the two sides over the past three years. Relations between the two EAC partners have been fraught with diplomatic tension since December 2023, when Corneille Nangaa announced in Nairobi the birth of a political wing of the M23 rebel movement, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC).

The Congolese saw Kenya's decision to allow Nangaa, a former ally of President Felix Tshisekedi, to launch a rebellion on its soil as outright sabotage.

Indeed, the AFC threatened to overthrow the government in Kinshasa. But the two capitals managed to lay the foundation for de-escalation when President William Ruto sent his senior-most minister, Mudavadi, to Kinshasa with an olive branch.

Nevertheless, the lull was short-lived. In a later interview with Jeune Afrique magazine, the Kenyan President attempted to exonerate Rwandan President Paul Kagame of his support for the M23, and officials in Kinshasa were offended.

Kinshasa reinforced its conviction that Ruto had chosen sides in the conflict between the DRC and Rwanda. Kigali has been accused by several organisations, including the UN, of supporting the M23 in their violent campaign in eastern Congo.

When Goma fell at the end of January this year, the Kenyan embassy in Kinshasa was among diplomatic missions attacked in the ensuring riots.

Kinshasa has never publicly admitted liability for the attacks on the foreign missions.

Now, with the appointment of a consul to Goma, some Congolese are calling on their government to sever diplomatic relations with Kenya, a high-note decision that could be counter-productive.

One Congolese commentator on social media noted that, “The DRC's diplomatic response is weak in the face of this deliberate provocation by a country complicit in the killings in the east of our country. Send the Kenyan ambassador back to Nairobi, close his embassy and all Kenyan-owned businesses in the DRC.”In fact, there is no substantive ambassador in Kinshasa and the embassy premises are not yet usable since the looting. That is also a symptom of broken relations because Kinshasa refused to accredit an appointed Kenyan ambassador last year, forcing Nairobi to reassign Col Shem Amadi to another station.

Since President Ruto came to power in 2022, the two countries have remained in a state of neither peace nor war, after a period of warm relations between former president Uhuru Kenyatta and Congo’s Tshisekedi.

Rigathi Gachagua, former Deputy President, now harsh critic of Ruto recently publicly accused the Kenyan leader of “interfering in … the DRC.”

Overall, the tensions have threatened the bond that had been strengthened by Kenyatta and Tshisekedi. In the DRC, the most visible Kenyan company is EquityBCDC the second-largest bank in the country.

KCB Group acquired TMB, a Congolese bank, in 2022. KCB's experience seems less spectacular than that of Equity Group. Also less spectacular is the cooperation between Kenya Airways and Congo Airways, which signed a leasing agreement in 2021. The deal concerned two Embraer E190 aircraft, but was not renewed.

KQ withdrew its aircraft for “strictly operational reasons.” Meanwhile, Jambojet was forced to stop flying to Goma whose airport was damaged during the capture of the city, now under the control of AFC/M23.

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