In recent weeks UNMISS Force  has been asked some telling questions about its readiness and commitment to the challenge of bringing peace to South Sudan. Sometimes stretched to the limit the military arm of the mission has expended considerable effort fulfilling its mandate to protect innocent civilians in imminent danger.

Following the violent outbreak of fighting in Juba from fro 7/8 July and which lasted some 5 days, but which still goes on in pockets around the country, many have asked…is the Force up to the challenge, what did they do during the conflict and indeed some have even accused them of not being up to the task.

Lt General Ondieki is the UNMISS Force commander, and we sat down with him to find out what the true picture was……he spoke about Force readiness, the challenges the force faced, steps taken to protect the over 200000 internally displaced persons in POC and related sites across the country, that his force is responsible for protecting and dealt with accusations of force failure to act to protect women, amongst others

“The areas that the government of South Sudan has declared unsafe for us to venture include the Equatorias and anything South of Juba, where they have declared we cannot have especially our flights.  We have presence in those areas, but our presence is restricted because of the safety that is not guarantee by the operating forces in those areas.  Therefore my wish is to call on the government of South Sudan to declare those areas safe as soon as possible especially for the humanitarian agencies to be able to move in and for the force to be able to assist the people in whatever form so that they can come to normalcy.”

The Force Commander has also explained the role of the UN Mission in the recent fighting in Juba.  Lieutenant General Johnson ONDIEKI says UNMISS personnel did not engage directly in the fighting but were caught up in the violence.

“We were not directly engaged in the confrontation; however we were caught in the crossfire.  What I mean is shots were being fired over UNMISS between the two warring factions and in the process UNMSIS lost two peacekeepers.  We are not here for any party or to engage any party in any confrontation.  UNMISS should never be a target for any of the parties because we are here for peace and we are here to support ten people of South Sudan to take forward the peace that they have signed.”

Meanwhile, the UNMISS force headquarters is looking into reports that UN peacekeepers did not do enough to ensure protection of civilians during the recent fighting in Juba.  There have been media allegations concerning the conduct of UN peacekeeping personnel as to whether enough was done to protect women and minors who were victims of sexual violence.  Acting Mission spokesperson Shantal Persaud says UNMISS takes the allegations very seriously

“As an enhanced protection measure, UNMISS is working with community leaders and protection partners to coordinate peacekeeping escorts of women and young girls leaving protection sites to collect food and non-food items at scheduled times of the day.  The UN takes very seriously the allegations that peacekeepers may not have rendered aid to civilians in distress.  The UNMSS force headquarters is looking into the specific allegations in line with its established protocols.  The mission has reinforced the message to all peacekeepers that if these incidents of abuse should be committed in areas for which they have security responsibility, then they have an individual and joint duty to act to prevent harm to innocent civilians.”