Africa: Monusco - Kobbler's Likely Departure Signals Post-FIB Era for Peacekeeping in Congo

Source: AllAfrica.com

ANALYSIS

By Timo Mueller, freelance researcher in eastern Congo

25 February 2015 - As we enter another critical year for the DRC, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO) is going to lose most of its political and military leadership, including its Special Representative (SRSG) Martin Kobler, its two Deputy SRSGs Abdallah Wafy and MoustaphaSoumaré, and most likely its Force Commander Dos Santos Cruz.

As election-related tensions are rising and operations against the FDLR rebels looming, changing the leadership of MONUSCO is going to make it more difficult for it to play a positive role for peace and development in 2015, especially since the momentum of 2013 and early 2014 has been lost.

Last man standing

The first to leave the ship was Abdallah Wafy, Deputy Special Representative for Rule of Law and Operations in eastern Congo. He will assume the position of Ambassador of Niger to the UN. During his two and a half year tenure, General Wafy was a well-respected official on relatively good terms with the government.

Charged with overseeing humanitarian affairs for MONUSCO, MoustaphaSoumaré will leave for South Sudan this month to serve as the UN Deputy Special Representative for political affairs. Soumaré, who is Malian, has previously worked with missions in Liberia, Rwanda, Benin, Mali and at the UN secretariat in New York.

Chief of mission Martin Kobler has recently been nominated as a candidate to replace Valerie Amos as head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). While it is unlikely that he will get the position in light of unease from the humanitarian community about his role in 'militarizing' the MONUSCO mission, it is clear that he wants to get out in four or five months. Kobler is well respected inside the UN and having served in other hardship places such as Afghanistan and Iraq, may be eyeing a position in New York.

Lastly, we should expect General Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz of Brazil to leave this summer. He became the Force Commander of MONUSCO in May 2013 and with more than 40 years of military experience, including as Deputy Commander for Land Operations of the Brazilian army