Peacekeepers deny sex abuse claims

Dar es Salaam. There have been allegations that United Nations (UN) peacekeepers from Tanzania were among those engaged in sexual abuse in countries, where they were deployed. “It is not true,” said Lieutenant Colonel Shija Lupi in an exclusive interview with The Citizen recently.

Lt Col Lupi is among the Tanzanian soldiers in the UN Peace-Keeping force. He is a TPDF member of the directorate of peace support operation.

He said he had a passionate interest in protecting people from all walks of life and he enjoyed doing so. It is for this reason that he is ready to protect the lives of women, girls and vulnerable groups in areas that he is deployed. He can say the same for most Tanzanian soldiers.

“Being on a peacekeeping mission means a lot to us. There is no way we can let down our country,” Lt Col Lupi noted. His colleagues expressed similar views.

Lt Col Lupi has been to Lebanon in 2008/09 and in 2010/11, he was assigned to South Sudan as a discipline and conduct officer. Then, he went back to Lebanon from February 2016 to March 2017.

Sharing his own experience, he said his participation in peace keeping missions had enabled him to meet with other people from across the world and learn from them, including the importance of peace keeping. He added that, their key role was to disarm rebel groups and protect civilians.

Being far from home

It is not easy for anyone to quickly cope with an environment one is not familiar with, but as TPDF members they can be deployed anywhere they are needed and coping is one the skilled they have internalised during military training.

Lt Col Juma Mrai, 47, said the biggest challenge was the fact of being far from their families for a long time, risking life in a foreign land, climate and infrastructural challenges because they used to serve in areas with bad roads and other supportive infrastructure had been destroyed.

Lt Col Mrai, a TPDF member working with the National Service, vocational training department. He was responsible for building good relationship between the authorities and the people of South Sudan.

Social interaction is important, including sharing good and sad moments with family members. However, things are quite different for solders. Being away for a long time on a UN mission, the soldiers forgo all social life with their families.

“While I was out on a mission I missed the wedding of my sister, who is the last born in the family. My second born child fell down from a chair and sustained some injuries on his hand and was stitched. That moment wished I could be at home,” said Lt Col Mrai, who has been a TPDF member for 22 years.

His experience in South Sudan

He has been to South Sudan from early 2016 to February this year as a public relations officer. He recalls on and off attacks by rebels near their camp.

“Initially, the rebels considered us to be their enemies. They thought we were there in favour of the government of south Sudan, which was not true. We faced difficult moments, when we were supposed to meet them (rebels) for reconciliation meetings or distribution of humanitarian aid from the UN,” he explained.

He noted that he faced some challenges, while on a UN mission, including language barrier with natives, infrastructural problems, as according to him, major road networks were severely damaged because of the civil war and poor communication network.

Lt Col Mrai recalled three villages, which were burnt to ashes in Rumbek, South Sudan. He he said no one survived in the incident.

“I can’t recall names, but the situation was terrible. Whoever tried to escape was shot dead by the labels, who stationed outside houses ready to shot anyone, who would survive the fire,” he explained.

“That is when I learnt that we truly need to respect each other and protect the peace, unity and solidarity we have as a nation,” he said.

Why are Tanzanians in the UN peace keeping forces?

Tanzania has been contributing to the UN peacekeepers’ crew deployed in various countries since 1995.

Over the time, peacekeeping has grown and transformed from simply monitoring ceasefires to protecting civilians, disarming ex-combatants, protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law and supporting free and fair elections.

Participation is due to willingness in terms of security and military cooperation within and outside regions that it falls.

Tanzania’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations has been largely driven by political instability in other counties at regional and global levels.

The contribution of TPDF members in the UN peacekeeping crew has raised the country’s profile as a regional icon for maintaining peace and security.

The most recent operations that Tanzanian troops participated in include those in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lebanon and South Sudan and the Republic of Central Africa.

As an officer in the directorate of defence and foreign relations, Lt Col Sangano Wibonela is of the view that it’s crucial for Tanzanians to protect unity and solidarity.

He said he had learnt this from their engagement in peace keeping forces. He has been to South Sudan from early 2008 to 2010 and the Republic of Central Africa in 2015/16.

“UN peacekeeping crew has proven itself to be a reliable and effective means of protecting civilians and facilitating the transition from conflict to peace. I feel proud to be part of the team,” said Lt Col Wibonela.

Their message to Tanzanians

The three TPDF members appeal to Tanzanians to maintain peace and unity reiterating that, it is of considerable importance to put forward national interest in every decision we take.

According to Lt Col Mrai, there is a need to restore national peace after war and he insists that negotiations should be part of solving whatever crisis.

“We, who happened to serve in various UN missions know the consequences of war. Women and children suffer most, when a war starts,” he said.

His view was supported by Lt Col Lupi, who pointed out that war could bring peace at all, but ot rather fuelled enormity from one generation to the next.

“Conflict has taken a huge toll in terms of human lives. The suffering of refugees and internally displaced people and the destruction of social fabric, physical infrastructure and natural resources is enormous. We need to collaborate to maintain peace,” he explained.

He also encouraged Tanzanians to be proud of the prevailing peace, saying the country was considered as a role model as far as democracy, good governance, peace, unity and solidarity were concerned in sub-Saharan Africa. “While we take things for granted we should know that some people toiled before bringing this nation to where it is today. Let us maintain the spirit left by the founding fathers - Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Sheikh Abeid Karume,” he said.