Roundup: Kenyan troops arrive from peacekeeping mission in South Sudan

The first batch of Kenyan troops who served in South Sudan's UN peacekeeping mission arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday following President Uhuru Kenyatta's order to withdraw.

Some 100 soldiers who were part of about 1,000 troops seconded to the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) in Wau region, were received by the commander of the Kenyan military's Eastern Command Major-General Benjamin Biwott.

"Today we have started our withdrawal from South Sudan," Biwott told journalists in Nairobi, noting that further batches of soldiers from about 1,000-strong Kenyan contingent would arrive in coming days.

Biwott said the withdrawal followed the order by President Kenyatta after the sacking of Lt. General Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki as UNMISS Force Commander by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the basis that he failed to protect people of South Sudan.

"We are happy and committed to serving in the missions. We have been serving in the peacekeeping missions since 1979 in 24 countries," he added.

He said Kenya will withdraw all the more than 1,000 troops from South Sudan as soon as possible and when UN provides the needed logistics.

The military officer said Kenyan soldiers had taken part in peacekeeping operations in 44 countries over the past four decades and Kenya was continuing in its other missions.

"We are committed in our peacekeeping operations as a credible and well-trained force," he said.

The dusty troops who carried light rucksacks were taken for a debriefing at the airport upon landing in Nairobi before they could be redeployed to their original stations.

President Kenyatta had ordered the troops to withdraw in response to the sacking of the Kenyan commander of the UNMISS force.

Kenya said last week it would pull its forces out after a UN inquiry accused UNMISS of failing to respond to an attack on a Juba hotel during fighting in July. Lieutenant General Johnson Ondieki was fired.

"Peace will not come to South Sudan by blaming a Kenyan commander for the wider failings of the Mission to South Sudan. We intend to withdraw Kenyan troops from the mission and will discontinue our contribution of troops to the proposed Regional Protection Force," Kenyatta said.

He said events involving the UN Mission to South Sudan led UN Secretariat to place the blame for a systemic failure on an individual Kenyan commander.

The hotel attack occurred in July during several days of fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former vice president Riek Machar in July. The two men have long been political rivals and come from different ethnic groups.

A civil conflict erupted in South Sudan in December 2013, but the two leaders signed a peace deal in 2015 that was meant to halt the fighting, but it failed to stick. Machar has since left the country and sporadic clashes have continued. Endit