United Nations

Biographical Note

SG/A/855

    BIO/3539

    1 October 2003

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS LIEUTENANT-GENERAL DANIEL OPANDE OF KENYA  AS FORCE COMMANDER OF UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN LIBERIA

NEW YORK, 30 September (UN Headquarters) -- In a letter dated 29 September, the Secretary-General informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Lieutenant-General Daniel Ishmael Opande of Kenya as Force Commander of the newly established United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

Born on 18 August 1943, Lieutenant-General Opande is a graduate of the British Army Cadet School (Sandhurst), where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1964. He has served as Commandant of the National Defence College, Kenya's highest military institution. General Opande is also a graduate of the British Army Staff College and the United States National Defense University.

General Opande served as Deputy Force Commander with the United Nations Transitional Assistance Group in Namibia (UNTAG) from 1989 to 1990. He represented Kenya in the Mozambican peace process as a facilitator and negotiator between the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) and the Government of Mozambique from 1990 to 1993, and served as Chief Military Observer of the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) from 1993 to 1995. Since November 2000, he has served with distinction as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).

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