The Democratic Republic of the Congo has requested that the MONUSCO spokesman leave the country after accusing him of inflaming the unrest that erupted into violent protests last week.
The announcement of the decision was made in a statement from the ministry of foreign affairs dated July 28 that was obtained by the Reuters news agency on Wednesday.
Last week, hundreds of protesters vandalised and set fire to the mission's buildings in multiple eastern cities, killing 36 people, including four UN soldiers.
The mission, which has been operational for more than 10 years, is accused by the local populace of failing to shield them from the armed gang violence that has long plagued the area.
The government said that the spokesman, Mathias Gillmann, had made “indelicate and inappropriate” statements which contributed to the tensions between the population and MONUSCO.
“The Congolese government considers that the presence of this official on the national territory is not likely to promote a climate of mutual trust and calm between Congolese institutions and MONUSCO,” said the statement.
Requests for comment from Gillmann and the deputy spokesperson for MONUSCO were not promptly fulfilled.
In view of the protests, the Congolese government also declared this week that it would reevaluate the mission's pullout strategy, a move that MONUSCO stated it welcomed.
According to a plan created last year, the mission is scheduled to leave by 2024, but foreign affairs minister Christophe Lutundula said the government wants to hasten that date.