This follows criticism of chaotic and ineffective action by blue helmets dealing with the four-year conflict in Africa’s youngest country

So bad was the peacekeeping job being done by the United Nations in South Sudan that last year the Kenyan Commander Lieutenant General Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki was sacked.

This year, the blue helmets have saved civilians from being advucted, rescued UN staff during attacks and broken through a rebel roadblock to reach a massacre sight.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for an independent investigation into the death of  U.S. freelance reporter and photographer Christopher Allen, who was embedded with the rebel forces  and was killed in an exchange with government soldiers.

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The foreign ministry in Nairobi says continued deployment of Kenyan troops in South Sudan is no longer tenable.

Kenya’s angrily-worded statement expresses dismay

at UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s decision to dismiss Lieutenant General Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki as head of the UN peacekeeping force in South Sudan, UNMISS force.

It follows a UN special investigation finding lack of leadership in the force led to a chaotic and ineffective response during heavy fighting in the capital Juba in July.

UNMISS has about 16 000 troops deployed in South Sudan.

Kenya’s 1 000 men is one of the largest national components.

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