New head appointed for Darfur peacekeeping mission

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and AU Commission Chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced the appointment of Dr Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi of Nigeria as the new head of Unamid.

Dr Uhomoibhi (1954), who replaces fellow Nigerian, Abiodun Oluremi Bashua, will be the UN-AU Joint Special Representative for Darfur, with responsibilities including those of Joint Chief Mediator, the AU stated in a press release on Wednesday.

He has served in several positions in the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more than 30 years, and also held positions in the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, the Consulate-General of Nigeria in the USA, and Nigerian embassies in Ethiopia and the former Yugoslavia.

From 2008 to 2009, Uhomoibhi served as the third President of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

He holds a doctorate in modern history and international relations from Oxford Universit.

It is expected that Uhomoibhi, who will be the fifth head of Unamid since its establishment in 200, and his team will face tensions with the Sudanese government which seeks to end its mandate.