Kenyan government says it will continue to work for peace and stability in South Sudan, but ruled out possibility of sending troops to the UN peacekeeping mission in the country.
Early this month, President Uhuru Kenyatta, announced the withdrawal of about 1,000 Kenyan troops who were serving under the UNMISS and said his country would disengage from the South Sudan peace process. The withdrawal started last week, with more than 100 soldiers who based in Wau arriving in Nairobi. More were to follow, according to UNMISS and Kenyan officials.
The decision was triggered by the dismissal of the Kenyan Lieutenant-General Johnson Ondieki by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over what was described as “serious shortcomings in the leadership” of UNMISS, which led to ineffective response to the violence in July.
Addressing a weekly press briefing on Sunday, State House Spokesman, Manoah Esipisu, said although Kenya would no longer work as part of UNMISS, Nairobi will continue with its peace efforts on other fronts.
“Our obligation to the people of South Sudan remains in place, we will work with them bilaterally, we will work with them through the Intergovernmental Authority on Development [IGAD], we will work with them through the East African Community [EAC], which we worked hard to get them there, and we will work with them through the structures of the African Union,” Mr Manoah said.
“What we will not do is work with them as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan [UNMISS] for the simple reason that anyone that disrespects you, is normally not worth of your own respect. A country must decide where it stands with its people, where it stands with its dignity, where it stands with its sovereignty,” he said.
“So if someone is going to take a decision about a Kenyan commander without consulting Kenya, that person will have to expect consequences from the Republic of Kenya.”
Last week, some 100 Kenyan troops who were serving as part of UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan in Wau, returned to Nairobi.
The rest are expected to leave South Sudan anytime.