Kenya has accepted to take part in a UN regional protection force for South Sudan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday.
The decision comes three months after Kenya angrily withdrew its troops from The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) after Guterres’ predecessor Ban Ki-moon, fired the Kenyan commander of the peacekeeping force.
Guterres told reporters that he had reached full agreement with Kenya to participate in the regional protection force to be deployed in the South Sudanese capital Juba.
The UN Security Council decided in August last year to deploy 4,000-strong regional force to bolster its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, but the plan has been bogged down in delays and bureaucratic hurdles.
Photo: Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers disembark from a plane at the JKIA in Nairobi Kenya, November 9, 2016. (Reuters)