Amidst of the ongoing diplomatic spat between the Kenya government and the United Nations over the sacking of Lt-Gen Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki, the humanitarian interest of the South Sudanese citizens should take center stage.
The withdrawal of Kenyan troops from the UN peace keeping force should not be done in bad faith as the Kenya government is doing. The Kenya military plays a very significant part in the peace keeping mission in the war-ravaged South Sudan.
When news broke that General Ondieki was sacked because of laxity at work, my first impression was that the UN chief Mr. Ban Ki-Moon was not being sincere. However, the reaction of the Kenya government after the sacking has made headlines and hence an impression that there is something more to it than meets the eye. The Kenya government should not react in a manner to show they are blackmailing the UN. In demanding the reinstatement of General Ondieki, the Kenya government is casting a blind eye on why they really took their military to South Sudan.
As part of the UN peacekeeping mission, the Kenya military helps maintain peace in a very fragile part of the world. When president Uhuru decides to pull out the Kenyan troops because a Kenyan General has been sacked, that means he does not take Kenya’s role in the UN peacekeeping mission seriously.
In fact, the fact that the Kenya government even threatened to pull out of the South Sudan peace process must be a worry to every one of us. More that baffled most was the deportation of the spokesman of former South Sudan vice president, Riek Machar because of a Facebook post. That his expulsion from the country was associated with the sacking of General Ondieki makes me wonder on what magnitude the government of Kenya felt hurt by the sacking. Nairobi government should try and solve their differences with the United Nations without pulling out its military force from South Sudan. If they pull out, the lives of the South Sudan citizens are obviously exposed to the ever dangerous South Sudan. The government of Kenya should, therefore, try to address their grievances with the UN diplomatically rather than pulling out her troops from South Sudan.
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