Appointments
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Aeneas Chapinga Chuma of Zimbabwe as his deputy special representative responsible for recovery and governance with the UN Mission in Liberia. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Chuma served as the UN resident coordinator in Kenya from 2008 to 2012 and in Zambia from 2003 to 2008. He also served as the deputy resident representative in Mozambique from 2000 to 2003 and in Uganda from 1996 to 2000. Previously, he worked as a macroeconomist and econometrician with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
José Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste has been named as special representative and head of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau. He brings with him more than three decades of diplomatic and political experience in the service of peace and stability in Timor-Leste and beyond. As President of Timor-Leste, from 2007 to 2012, Mr. Ramos-Horta contributed to healing the wounds and stabilizing the situation in his country following the crisis of 2006. He also served as foreign minister from 2001 to 2006 and as prime minister from 2006 to 2007. The new special representative succeeds Joseph Mutaboba of Rwanda.
The UN Secretary-General and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma have appointed Mohamed Ibn Chambas of Ghana as their joint special representative for Darfur and head of the AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur, with responsibilities including those of AU-UN joint chief mediator. Mr. Chambas brings to his new position extensive experience after a long and distinguished career in both international and governmental forums, most recently as Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States. Mr. Chambas replaces Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria.
Maj. Gen. Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana has been selected as the force commander for the UN Mission in South Sudan. At the time of his appointment, Maj. Gen. Sakyi was serving as the assistant commandant of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Junior Division. He previously served as commander of the Army Combat Training School. Maj.Gen. Sakyi has also served as commander of the Ghanaian contingent in several UN peacekeeping missions, including as a sector commander with the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire in 2008. He succeeds Maj. Gen. Moses Bisong Obi of Nigeria.