Foreign Affairs PS terms DRC rejection of Ruto’s nominee premature
By Lutta Njomo, August 16, 2025Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei, on Saturday, August 16, 2025, faulted the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for rejecting President William Ruto’s nomination of Judy Kiara Nkumiri as Kenya’s Consul General to Goma.
In a brief démarche, Korir explained that Kenya was prepared to request authorisation from Kinshasa after parliamentary approval of Judy Kiara Nkumiri.
The PS insisted that it was the stipulated diplomatic procedure before any diplomatic appointees are cleared to travel to their designated stations.
However, Korir expressed disappointment with DRC’s reaction, terming it premature.
“As per diplomatic practice, once the presidential nominee receives parliamentary approval, Kenya shall seek an agrément or consent of the Democratic Republic of Congo before the Counsel General reports to post,” Korir stated in while reacting to a media report about the rejection.
“This reaction is unfortunately premature,” the PS further wrote on his X official page.
DRC’s explanation
The brewing diplomatic tiff played out in the public gallery on Saturday, August 16, 2025, when Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally rejected Ruto’s appointment of Judy Kiara Nkumiri as Kenya’s Consul General to Goma.
DRC declared the move inconsistent with international law, citing the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of April 24, 1963. Kinshasa insisted that the appointment of any head of a foreign consular post requires prior approval and the issuance of an exequatur by the DRC government.
“Kinshasa therefore expects to be formally approached by Nairobi through the established diplomatic channels, and will respond exclusively through the same channels, in accordance with rules of courtesy and mutual respect,” the statement read.
“In this context, any announcement relating to the nomination of a Consul General in Goma is particularly inappropriate and cannot be considered without the approval of the Congolese authorities,” Kinshasa emphasised.
The bone of contention, it emerged, lay not with Nkumiri herself, but rather with the perceived lack of protocol observed in her nomination. This formal rebuke amplified existing tensions between the two nations, already strained by competing economic interests and security concerns within the volatile Eastern Congo region.
