Kenya and the United Nations have agreed to restore their fractured relations caused by a dispute over military deployment in South Sudan, according to Kenyan media.
Kenya withdrew its peacekeeping troops from a UN mission in South Sudan last year after its mission commander was withdrawn without consultation with the Kenyan leadership.
The agreement was reached at a meeting between President Uhuru Kenyatta and new UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Addis Ababa yesterday.
“I want the United Nations to be reconciled with Kenya. Let us make a fresh start. Kenya is a very important player in the region and I feel that we have to work together to secure peace and security. Let us put the past behind us,” Guterres told President Kenyatta.
“As a sign of our confidence in the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and in the Kenyan government, the UN would like to offer Kenya the Darfur command,” Guterres added.
President Kenyatta repeated during the meeting with the UN chief that such an affront to Kenyan dignity was unwelcome because it conveyed the message that Kenya’s efforts in keeping the region secure went unrecognised.
Photo: Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers disembark from a plane at the JKIA in Nairobi Kenya, November 9, 2016. (Reuters)