On 28th January, 2010, the Ghana Black Stars took the lead in a football match against Nigeria at the African Cup of Nations in Angola.
The precocious Kojo Asamoah won a corner on the left, crossed it to the near post where the timeless Asamoah Gyan was up in the head to skillfully steer the ball past the goalkeeper.
This is the tournament that made the Ghanaian striker famous for the “One Goal Project.”
Under a warm tent, with scores of people gathered behind a television set in Western Sudan, Darfur, elated Ghanaian football enthusiasts cheered the Black Stars to victory and held their heads high against their Nigerian counterparts in the camp.
This was no ordinary camp; this was a joint Police-Military camp under the United Nations UN keeping the peace in the area.
Deployment:
Among the over 100 personnel in the camp was Chief Inspector Benjamin Valentine Mensah of the Greater Accra Regional Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU). Chief Inspector Mensah had been in Darfur as an Independent Police Officer (IPO) and part of the UN team keeping the peace in the region for the past 3 months.
Three (3) months later, this Chief Inspector who had several years of experience fighting crimes committed against women in Ghana would go on to become the Sector Coordinator in their camp. He was in charge of all the activities of the IPOs in the camp.
In October 2009, Chief Inspector Mensah after a rigorous process of examinations and practical training exercises by the Ghana Police administration and personnel of the UN in the pre-deployment phase of UN Peacekeeping Mission abroad, boarded a chartered flight from Ghana to Darfur along with some other Ghanaian compatriots.
Arrival & Acclimatization:
After spending about 5 hours in the air, traveling over 3,400 kilometers, Chief Inspector Mensah landed in Darfur a region in Western Sudan to a very harsh weather. “Imagine that sometimes the weather can be about 45 Degrees Celsius or more,” he said. “The weather was unbearable, we say Northern Ghana is warm but the warmth in here [Northern Ghana] cannot be compared to the heat in Darfur,” he continued.
For the entire period during the UN Peacekeeping Mission, Chief Inspector Mensah and his other colleagues slept under community tents but the relentlessness of the East African sun had them scurrying from their tents even before noon to escape the ‘hell-like heat. “By the time it is about 9 or 10am, we all have to go leave the tent and go outside to work. You cannot stay in the tent.”
Shuttling from the camp to training areas on very strict time schedules, acquiring relevant IDs and licenses, undergoing orientation while still continuing to partake in mandatory personnel assessments exacerbated by the wrath of the unforgiving sun was enough to get to Chief Inspector Mensah. After two weeks, the Chief Inspector felt he had had enough and wanted to return to his home country, Ghana. The only thing that kept him through his year’s Mission abroad was his commitment to duty and service to nation.
Time they say is the reason why everything doesn’t happen at once, with time the Chief Inspector got used to the weather, got the relevant documents and settled into normal duties. This included short and long range patrols, interviewing community members, assessing the security and materials needs of communities while filing thorough reports to the relevant quarters for redress.
Keeping the Peace:
“When we got to Darfur, the place was volatile. You could not predict what will happen,” he said with a worried look on his face. “You see these Arabs on their camels coming towards you with guns that might be even more powerful than what you are wielding.”
“You cannot predict what they will do, you always have to be on the alert. Sometimes you meet children who are maybe less than 15 holding AK 47s and you cannot take it from them. You cannot even tell whether they have got ammunition in it or not.”
“Look, sometimes when some of the others teams go to the communities to deliver aid. You know water and those things these rebels would come dressed as civilians and be shooting up the place.”
“But you see you cannot shoot back at them because you don’t want to injure innocent people, but these rebels they do not mind,” he spoke with concern written all over his face.
Skirmishes:
The Darfur War which was also nick named the Land Cruiser War begun in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) started fighting the government for what they deemed as an oppression of Darfur’s non-Arab population. The government led by its leader Omar al-Bashir retaliated the rebel attacks and before long, the small skirmishes had degenerated into major attacks on government installations and civilian communities.
On July 31, 2007, the United Nations Security Council set up a joint UN and African Union (AU) operation to bring sanity to war torn Darfur. This birthed the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). Its initial 12-month mandate was extended to 31st July 2010.
Recalling of Experience:
During the interview with GBC’s Mark Smith, the continuous use of the “Volatile” by the former UN Peacekeeper, painted a picture of a sense of hopelessness and despair among the civilian communities in Darfur as they could not predict when violence would erupt and disrupt the momentary cease fire they enjoyed from time to time.
Almost 10 years after the bitter-sweet experience, the now Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Benjamin Valentine Mensah sits in his office at Wa in the Upper West Region as the Staff Officer and recounts with mixed feelings his story and perhaps the most adventurous 12 months of his police career.
“Where our camp was, there was no designated road to maneuver through. You had to create your own roads. Some of them were intermittent rivers, and so when you are going on a patrol you can pass through but when you are returning and it has rained, the rivers would be full”
Risky Journeys:
“What we do is we let the Mowacks go through the water and then we follow with the other cars. Yes, sometimes the swift waters would turn the cars. But luckily no one drowned, some only sustained minor injuries,” he recounted.
The effects of war on societies are endless, for Darfur, education systems were on ‘life-support’ barely surviving the brutal effects of war. Pipes supplying water to homes had been blown up, others had dried up; filled with dust and as dried as the desert. Electricity was a scarce commodity with only few houses enjoying the rare privilege. All these put together, culminated to an almost impossible environment for the survival of residents and families particularly women and children.
With support from the UN, makeshift structures were erected, fitted with basic health apparatus and useful drugs. The basic arrangements sufficed in times of needs. The health machinery at the time, according to DSP Mensah could pass as “okay” as it served basic needs.
Cooking in Durfur:
The peacekeepers needed strength to carry out their daily activities and unlike the military detachments which had been stationed at the camp with their cooks, the IPOs had to prepare their own meals. This part of the conversation brought a lot of laughter to the office we were seated in. As part of basic essential for the year’s mission abroad DSP Mensah vividly recalled packing several packs of gari [a local Ghanaian food produce made from cassava], and some NEAT products [Neat Fufu, Neat Konkonte among others].
He hoped that as a foreigner in a strange land, the local delicacies he was used to would last his entire period but alas, this was not meant to be. “When these things finished, I suffered. You know when you go to someone’s country; it takes time to get used to their food.” He laughs as he tells me how some of his team members used to pound potatoes in place of yam and cassava.
“Potatoes?” I ask in utter surprise. “Yes, you know because of the volatility of the area, we didn’t have enough time to visit the markets and all of that. Yes we were able to prepare our soups but we had to pound potatoes.”
Being strangers on a foreign land, most of them were taken advantage of. “We were paid in dollars and then we changed into Sudan Pound. When you are to buy something, sometimes because we didn’t understand the language, what could sell for 5 pounds could be sold to you for 10 pounds or more.”
Utilizing Time:
Even soldiers and policemen on the fore front of helping host countries bring peace are not all about guns, bullets and blood. In their down time, some got their movies going. “When you go, you need a lot of movies. I used to watch a lot of movies but I also used the time to go online and complete some online course on the UN peacekeeping page.” DSP Mensah was very proud telling me he was able to complete about 10 short courses during the period.
For others, battle lines were drawn, not on the battlefield with guns but rather on the field of play with excited men and women enjoying and participating in highly competitive bouts of soccer and volleyball. The games were fierce; nation against nation, who could play better? This was a question they sought to answer anytime they gathered to play some games.
DSP Mensah is a proud man today, proud of all the work he did in Darfur, but he had particular interest in telling me this one. “In places like Darfur often, the women do not like interacting with the men. There was a time we went on patrol and lucky for us we went with some female colleagues. There was a lady who had been raped when she went to fetch firewood. When she told us we reported it and with the help of the local police and my years of experience with DOVVSU, we arrested the rapist.” A truly satisfying moment for the Ghanaian police officer. For many other peacekeepers, this is what they live for ensuring that they bring peace, sanity and the rule of law to war torn countries.
Commitment to Duty:
As we wrapped up our conversation, DSP Benjamin Mensah used the opportunity to remind peacekeepers of their commitment to duty and country first before themselves. “You must remember that you are representing the country, when you go to commit an offence, they won’t mention your name, they will say Ghana.”
“The UN does not joke about Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA). When they get you, that’s it, you cannot ever join a UN mission abroad. When you return to your home country, you will face disciplinary measure(s) and sometimes you might even get dismissed,” he assured.
“When we went, for about 2 weeks, they kept doing orientation about these issues. They are really serious,” he stressed.
According to the UN itself, “conduct and discipline issues are an essential component of pre-deployment and in-mission induction training, which is mandatory for all civilian, military and police peacekeeping personnel.”
One thing DSP Mensah is excited about is that the number of UN Peacekeepers going to Darfur keep on reducing, he is of the view that the reduced numbers means the situation might be getting better.
Over the past years, UN Peacekeeping Missions have proven to be one of the most effective tools available to the UN to assist host countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace.
Recognition for Service:
A number of Ghanaian security personnel have won prestigious UN awards for their selfless and dedicated service to the greater cause. In November 2018, Chief Superintendent Phyillis Ama Tebuah was awarded with the United Nations Female Police Officer of the Year Award while two more officers are to be awarded posthumously, the late Francis Sammy Kwofie who served with the UN Police in the UNAMID (United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur) and the late CPL Mercy Adade who served with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
This year, Ghana joins the world to celebrate the International Day of the UN Peacekeeper on the theme “Protecting Civilians, Protecting Peace.” This year, the UN would also celebrate all 3,800 peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948, including the 98 last year.
Story by Mark Smith
