A new force commander of the peacekeeping mission has arrived into South Sudan, the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan has said.

David Shearer announced the arrival of Lieutenant General Frank Mushyo Kamanzi of Rwanda as Force Commander of UNMISS.

General Kamanzi is replacing Kenya’s Lieutenant General Johnson Ondieki who was dismissed by former UN Secretary General, Ban ki-Moon last year.

General Ondieki was fired following the confirmation by a special UN investigation that the mission failed to protect civilians during the violence in Juba in July, because of a lack of leadership by the peacekeeping force, spearheaded by Ondieki.

Lieutenant General Kamanzi arrives into South Sudan a month after his appointment by UN Secretary General António Guterres.

Before his most recent appointment as the Force Commander of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), Kamanzi served as Army Chief of Staff in the Rwanda Defence Force.

He also held the position of Deputy Force Commander in the African Union Mission in Sudan from 2006 to 2007 and served as a member of Joint Military Commission, Lusaka Peace Process for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1999.

Speaking during the Peacekeepers Day yesterday, UNMISS boss, David Shearer says Kamanzi will be heading the peacekeeping force whose expectation are too demanding and requires absolute commitment.

“Our expectation is for our troops to be robust, to stand up for those who try to stop us fulfilling our mandate to help South Sudanese civilians. So our approach must be robust but also needs to be calm and appropriate to the situation. We also need to be nimble,” said Shearer

Lieutenant General Kamanzi will command a force with an authorized strength of 17,000 peacekeepers drawn from 55 different countries.

He will report directly to the head of the Mission and is responsible for all military activities in support of UNMISS’ mandate to protect civilians.