Sudan restricts UNAMID’s movement, says force commander

May 9, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – UNAMID Force Commander, Leonard Muriuki Ngondi, Wednesday said the Sudanese government has often restricted the Mission’s freedom of movement.

The Kenyan military was speaking in meeting for the Security Council with the forces commanders of all the United Nations peacekeeping missions across the world to discuss the challenges they face during the implementation of their mandates.

Ngondi told the meeting that the mandate of Darfur peacekeeping mission was ” fairly robust” and the Mission has all the relevant components to implement it.

The four pillars of its mandate “were simple, understandable and implementable, so long as there were political will and commitment among all parties to the conflict,” he said according to the UN news centre.

“The Government of Sudan could be persuaded to adhere to the Status of Forces Agreement and allow UNAMID freedom of movement, including unhindered flights in its area of operations,” he further said.

Also, he proposed that the transition strategy to be included in the UNAMID mandate when its mandate is renewed next June.

The UN Security Council has reduced over 40% of the Mission’s troops and more can be considered in the next months as a result of the relative security the government forces have established in the region.

(ST)