United Nations officials “obviously value” Kenyan military and
police contributions to peacekeeping operations in South Sudan, a UN
spokesman said on Wednesday.
The comment to reporters came in response to the Kenyan government’s announcement hours earlier that it is pulling all its forces out of South Sudan and disengaging from the peace process in the war-torn country.
The Foreign Ministry in Nairobi said the action was prompted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s sacking on Tuesday of Lt Gen Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki, the Kenyan commander of the UN mission in South Sudan (Unmiss).
"The
process leading to this unfortunate decision not only lacked
transparency but did not involve any formal consultation with the
government of Kenya,” said a statement by Principal Secretary Monica
Juma.
Mr Ban ordered the replacement of Lt Gen Ondieki
on the basis of a report by special UN investigators who cited multiple
failures on the part of Unmiss leaders in protecting civilians during
attacks by government and rebel forces in Juba in July.
The
Kenyan Foreign Ministry said Lt Gen Ondieki was personally not to blame
for what it called “systemic disfunctionality" within Unmiss.
UN spokesman Stephen Dujarric said on Wednesday that the special
investigators’ report “does address issues - much broader issues within
the mission.”
He added that the UN had not been
officially apprised of Kenya’s announced decision to withdraw its
1000-plus troops and from Unmiss, which currently includes 13,723
uniformed personnel.
Kenya also said it was reversing
its decision to contribute to a 4000-strong UN civilian protection force
for South Sudan authorized by the Security Council in August.
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