The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has a new force commander. Ethiopian Lieutenant-General Yohannes Gebremeskel Tesfamariam replaces Major-General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana.
Lieutenant-General Tesfamariam will be in charge of nearly 8,000 UNMISS troops, plus three soon-to-be-deployed battalions from Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia slated to protect IGAD ceasefire monitoring teams.
Here’s some information on Lieutenant-General Tesfamariam:
-Lieutenant-General Tesfamariam was born in 1960 in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. He is married with three children and has a master’s degree in Peace and Security from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
-He has over 35 years of military experience with the UN and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces.
-Since 2013 he has been the Head of Mission and Force Commander for the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei, the disputed region between South Sudan’s Warrap state and Sudan’s South Kordofan state. He commanded 4,128 total uniformed personnel, including 3,970 troops, 136 military observers, and 22 police officers in the volatile, oil-rich area.
-Lieutenant-General Tesfamariam’s other prior work with the UN includes as the head of the Army Corps and the Government of Ethiopia Commissioner for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
-In the Ethiopian military, he served as the head of the Peacekeeping Department and the Military Intelligence in the Ministry of Defense.
-The Lieutenant-General comes to UNMISS as the mission adopts a new mandate focusing on protection of civilians. UNMISS also expects a new head of mission in July to replace current Special Representative of the Secretary General Hilde Johnson, who will step down after serving for three years.