Ban selects Ghanaian general to command UN force in South Sudan
Maj. Gen. Sakyi, a Ghanaian national replaces Maj. Gen. Moses Bisong Obi of Nigeria, who ended his term with the mission in Sudan and South Sudan last month.
Ki-moon, in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, said he was grateful for the Nigerian’s “significant” contribution to both missions over the past two years and seven months.
This critical period, according Secretary General said, saw the “successful” conclusion of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the peaceful holding of the Southern Sudan self-determination referendum and the birth of a new nation.
The new UNMISS Force Commander, the UN said, brings with him over 34 years of military command and staff experience at national and international level, having recently served as Assistant Commandant of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Junior Division.
Previously, however, Maj. Gen. Sakyi reportedly served as Commander of the Army Combat Training School and held several command positions from platoon to brigade level and staff positions in the Ghana Armed Forces and operational-level headquarters between 1979 and 2011.
He also served the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) from 2002 to 2003.
WHO IS MAJ. GEN. SAKYI?
Born in 1954, Maj. Gen. Sakyi holds a Bachelor degree (Honours) in Public Administration from Greenhill College at the Ghanaian Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana.
The Ghanaian is also a graduate of Senior Command and Staff Course, Command and Staff College, Accra, Ghana; Army High Command Course, Army Command College, Nanjing, China and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Senior Mission Leaders Course, National Defence College, Abuja, Nigeria.
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