Kenya has accused the UN secretary-general of instigating an investigation of deadly attacks in South Sudan with the "preordained" outcome of blaming the Kenyan commander of the UN peacekeeping force who was fired after just three weeks on the job.
Kenya's UN Ambassador Macharia Kamau told a news conference yesterday that Lt Gen Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki was sacked by UN chief Ban Ki-moon as "a scapegoat" for the systemic failures of the UN peacekeeping system.
He said the investigation was demanded "by certain current and future members" of the Security Council who wanted to protect their interests during the July attacks in South Sudan's capital, Juba. He refused to identify them.
The investigation sharply criticized the UN peacekeeping force's response to attacks on a UN compound in Juba housing 27,000 displaced people.
Over three days in July, at least 73 people were killed, including two Chinese peacekeepers and more than 20 internally displaced people who had sought UN protection. The investigators also criticized UN peacekeepers for failing to respond to an attack on a private compound just over a kilometer away where UN staff, aid workers and local staff were robbed, beaten, raped and killed by armed government soldiers.
Kenya's Foreign Ministry, expressing "dismay" at Ondieki's firing and the way the investigation was conducted, announced Wednesday that it was withdrawing its 1,000 troops from the UN peacekeeping operation in South Sudan and will not contribute to beefing up the force by 4,000 troops.
"Kenya had warned that any unfair or prejudicial action taken on the basis of this investigation would compel Kenya to re-evaluate completely its engagement in South Sudan," Kamau said. "The secretary-general, in his lame-duck season, seems to have found the courage that has eluded him throughout his tenure by choosing to ignore Kenya's plea."
Ban's 10 years as UN chief ends on Dec 31 and Antonio Guterres will take over as secretary-general on Jan 1.
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