Principal Secretary of the State Department for Diaspora Affairs, Roseline Njogu, has announced plans to intervene following the kidnapping of a Kenyan woman by a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Grace Wanza Munyao, a truck driver, was kidnapped by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), one of Kinshasa’s coalition forces.
According to a statement from the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC)- a political-military coalition, the rebel group kidnapped the 45-year-old on August 27 in Kiseguro town within the Binza grouping.
Njogu who was responding to a social media user who had raised concerns over continued silence by the government over the matter noted that necessary action was being undertaken to secure her release.
“We are well seized and appropriate action is being taken,” she wrote.
Njogu’s statement comes after Kenyans on social media alleged that calls for the government to intervene in saving Grace Munyao had fallen on deaf ears.
They claimed that the family of Munyao reported the issue to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Diaspora Affairs at the Upperhill Old Mutual building on the 28th but has not received any feedback.
Former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama also called on Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi to intervene in the matter to bring Munyao back home.
“I am asking Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who also serves as the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, to urgently secure the release of Grace Wanza Munyao, a Kenyan citizen and truck driver who was kidnapped by the FDLR, one of Kinshasa’s coalition forces, on August 27, 2024,” Muthama said.
AFC reported that the FDLR has violated a ceasefire agreement established among the rebel groups in Eastern DRC.
Additionally, it mentioned that the FDLR has continued to threaten local agricultural activities through kidnappings and looting, thereby spreading terror and insecurity.
