Kenya Denies Removing Tarmac, Cutting Power Supply To DRC Embassy Over Arrest Of KQ Staff

• Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary for Kenya Korir Sing'oei clarified that Nairobi did not interfere with the power supply to the DRC embassy
• Claims had been peddled that the Kenyan government milled the road to the embassy and disconnected electricity to protest the detention of Kenyans in Kinshasa
• A diplomatic tiff brewed between Kenya and DRC after the latter's military officials held KQ staffers over customs documentation for some cargo

Eli Odaga, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi: Kenya's Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'oei has dismissed claims that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) consulate in the city was in darkness by a deliberate action of the Kenyan state.

Did Kenya disconnect power at DRC embassy?

Claims had flown that the power supply at the embassy in Karura, on the outskirts of Nairobi, had been cut deliberately, and the road leading to it had been milled.

This was apparently Nairobi's reaction to the detention of the Kenya Airways employees by the Congolese authorities in Kinshasa.

However, clearing the air, Sing'oei flagged the reports as baseless and unfounded.

"Unfounded, baseless and idle chatter," read Sing'oei's brief response posted on X.

Arrest of KQ staff in Kinshasa

The two KQ employees were arrested in late April this year in connection with an alleged discrepancy in custom documentation for valuable cargo scheduled for transport on a KQ flight.

While confirming the development, the Kenyan flyer maintained the innocence of its employees, clarifying that the cargo in question was never accepted or uplifted due to incomplete documentation.

Despite a military court ruling in Kinshasa, which ordered the unconditional release of the detained staff, the DRC military did not comply.

KQ stopped Nairobi-Kinshasa flights until May 6, when the detainees were unconditionally released.

The airline said the release of its two staffers provided the necessary support required to resume flights.

Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka notified customers and affected passengers that KQ would be flying to and from Kinshasa starting Wednesday, May 8.

Proofreading by Asher Omondi, current affairs journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.