18 officers from the Kenya Police Service (KPS), Administration Police Service (APS), and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrived in South Sudan on Tuesday, October 1, for a peacekeeping mission.
According to a statement by the National Police Service (NPS), the officers will serve a one-year term in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
"NPS Officers have arrived safely in South Sudan for UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). A total of 18 officers drawn from the Kenya Police Service, Administration Police Service, and DCI under the command of Mr. Mbatian Kantai, SSP, will serve for a term of one year," NPS stated.
The police service disclosed that the officers met with Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja on September 26 before their departure.
Read More
NPS stated that the IG asked them to work as a team and exhibit high levels of discipline and professionalism during the mission.
"In his brief, IG Kanja reminded the officers to work as a team and exhibit high levels of discipline and professionalism in the performance of their duty, and further wished them a successful tour of duty," NPS remarked.
The deployment comes as Kenya leads another peace keeping mission in Haiti.
At the same time, the United Nations Security Council extended the mandate of the mission by a year, meaning the Kenyan officers will stay in the Caribbean nation till early October 2025.
President William Ruto on Saturday, September 21, paid the Kenyan officers in Haiti a visit and expressed delight in their successes so far.
The Head of State praised the Kenyan officers for their professional display three months after they landed in Haiti.
Speaking while addressing the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, September 26, the president committed to deploy more officers to Haiti in a bid to attain the target of 2,500 officers by January 2025.
