Gen. Martin Tumenta heads 1st UN force in CAR

Cameroonian military general, Martin Tumenta has been appointed to head the United Nations special peace keeping force in war-torn Central African Republic.

General Tumenta was appointed last week by UN secretary-General. “His great personal qualities and the success he achieved as head of the Joint Central African force, MISCA, militated for his appointment,” a UN official told the press in Yaounde. The UN official noted that the UN Security Council is satisfied with the performance of the MISCA forces in reducing the violence in CAR to the barest minimum.

He said the UN plans to deploy 12.000 troops in the CAR to replace the MISCA forces, whose mission ends officially on Monday 15 September 2014.

It was a visibly satisfied and motivated General Martin Tumenta who accepted to take over the command of the UN special force in CAR.

“I arrived the CAR on 19th December 2013 and within a shot time we were able to increase the force from 560 to 3000 men. We were also able to arrest the growing violence in that country...As the mission comes to an end i can say with conviction that we achieved our objective,” Gen. Tumenta told CRTV.