The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Friday the appointment of Lieutenant General Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki of Kenya as the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS).
He will replace Lieutenant General Yohannes Gebremeskel Tesfamariam of Ethiopia, who will complete his assignment on 17 June 2016.
“The Secretary-General is grateful to Lieutenant General Tesfamariam for his dedication and invaluable service during his tenure in UNMISS,” reads a statement from Ban’s office.
He said that the Kenyan general Ondieki is very experienced in the national and international military fields, including command and staff. He served as Deputy Army Chief of Staff-Command and Control of Kenya Army Forces since 2013, and previously as head of Kenya’s Western Command.
He also served in the predecessor of UNMISS, the United Nations Mission in Sudan, as a sector commander from 2010 to 2011.
Lieutenant General Ondieki has a bachelor’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the African Nazarene University in Kenya and is a graduate of the War College in the People’s Republic of China, and the Command and Staff College in the United States of America.
Born in 1960, he has three children.