Democratic Republic of the Congo President Félix Tshisekedi has suspended the army’s spokesperson, Major General Sylvain Ekenge, following racial remarks targeting the Tutsi community.
According to the Congolese News Agency (ACP) and Le Potentiel, Ekenge was formally notified of his suspension by military headquarters on Monday morning.
The decision follows comments he made on Saturday during a televised appearance on the state broadcaster RTNC, where he used language widely condemned as racially discriminatory.
The remarks sparked outrage on social media and drew criticism from both local and international observers.
Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot described the statements as “deeply disturbing,” noting that such racial remarks are unacceptable from a senior state representative. Writing on X, he emphasized that all forms of racial hate speech must be strongly condemned.
The controversy triggered intense public debate, and the video of the programme was subsequently removed from YouTube.
