1 June 2014 - Commemorating the 51^st anniversary of internal self-rule in Kenya, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Hilde F. Johnson and Kenya’s Ambassador to South Sudan Cleland Leshore led a 14-member delegation to the Western Bahr El-Ghazal State capital Wau today.

Known as Madaraka Day, the occasion was marked by a 90-minute ceremony organized by the Wau-based UNMISS Kenyan Battalion (KENBATT) that featured speeches, cultural events and a minute of silence to honour seven mission’s peacekeepers who died in the line of duty in 2013.

“I wish to commend the Kenyan Battalion for your contribution to peacekeeping worldwide and here in South Sudan,” said SRSG Johnson, who opened her speech with remarks in Swahili she had learned as a girl growing up in the Tanzanian city Arusha. “KENBATT has also shown flexibility to move 145 troops and deploy them in Juba because we really needed each and every one of them with the crisis.”

Ambassador Leshore paid tribute to thousands of Kenyan men and women who took part in the struggle for their country’s independence, and highlighted the role played by Kenyan forces in peacekeeping operations in South Sudan since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in Nairobi in January 2005.

“It is through your contribution while serving in UNMISS that we all look forward to a brighter future and the achievement of peace and prosperity in the Republic of South Sudan,” said the Kenyan envoy. “You have shown great professionalism, and the embassy continues to receive very positive comments about the good work done by members of KENBATT here in Wau, Aweil and Juba.”

During her stay in Wau, Ms. Johnson briefed Western Bahr El-Ghazal State Governor Rizik Zakaria Hassan and his cabinet on the mission’s new mandate, which was approved by the Security Council last Tuesday and her decision to leave South Sudan when her current term as SRSG is completed on 8 July.

She also visited the UNMISS compound’s protection-of-civilians site where 728 internally displaced persons have been living since fighting erupted in the Western Bahr El-Ghazal community of Mapel in late April between factions of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.

Ms. Johnson ended her visit at a town hall meeting with Wau-based UNMISS staff, responding to several questions from colleagues concerning the mission’s new mandate under Security Council Resolution 2155.