Kenyan peacekeepers reach Makeni

A battalion of Kenyan peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) travelled on Wednesday by road from Freetown to the northern town of Makeni, UNAMSIL reported on Thursday. “We encountered a few problems along the way when local RUF (Revolutionary United Front) commanders objected to the movement of UNAMSIL troops,” UNAMSIL said in a news release, “but the problems were not serious, and companies of the Kenyan battalion are now encamped at Makeni and are patrolling the area.” The arrival of the Kenyan troops marks the first step towards the setting up of a disarmament and demobilisation camp in Makeni, UNAMSIL said. UNAMSIL now has Ghanaian troops stationed in Daru, in the eastern district of Kailahun, and Nigerian peacekeepers in Port Loko and Lungi, which are closer to Freetown. UNAMSIL said more Ghanaian troops were on their way from Freetown to Bo and Kenema, located some 150 km and 200 km east of the capital respectively. UNAMSIL said UN military observers from nearly 30 countries were patrolling in Port Loko, Lunsar, Makeni, Magburaka, Bo, Kenema, Daru and other towns. In a letter to the president of the Security Council on 23 December, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended that UNAMSIL be expanded from its current authorised 6,000 military personnel to some 10,000. He cited concern that the situation in Sierra Leone continued to “pose a threat to peace and security in the region”.