UNITED NATIONS, July 2: A top Ghanaian military official has been appointed head of the UN military observer group stationed along the LoC between India and Pakistan.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana as Chief Military Observer and Head of Mission for the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
Sakyi, 59, succeeds Major General Young-Bum Choi of the Republic of Korea, who completed his two-year assignment in June.
With more than 35 years of military command and staff experience at national and international levels, Sakyi served most recently as Force Commander for the UN Mission in South Sudan.
He has held command and staff positions in the Ghana Armed Forces including Assistant Commandant of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Junior Division and Commander of the Army Combat Training School.
His peacekeeping experience includes Abidjan Sector Commander of the UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire from 2008 to 2009 and Commander of the Ghana contingent in four UN and two ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) peacekeeping operations, a statement issued by Ban’s spokesperson here said.
Sakyi is a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Accra, Ghana and the ECOWAS Senior Mission Leaders Course in Abuja, Nigeria.
UNMOGIP’s headquarters are in Islamabad from November- April and in Srinagar from May-October every year.
UNMOGIP observers have been located at the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir since 1949 and supervise the ceasefire between the two neighbours.
As of May this year, UNMOGIP has 40 military observers, 23 international civilian personnel and 45 local civilian staff.
The observer group is financed by the United Nations regular budget and appropriations for biennium 2014 – 2015 are USD 19.64 million. (PTI)
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