East African Standard (Nairobi)
June 8, 2001

By Mohammed Duba

At least 23 Addis Ababa University students and an Ethiopian soldier have fled to Kenya and are being held at the Moyale Police Station.

The soldiers’ defection brings to eight the number of Ethiopian military deserters on Kenyan territory.

Eastern Provincial Police Officer, Mr Ezekiel Waitage, confirmed the flights.

He said the latest military defector had crossed the border yesterday morning in the company of an Addis Ababa University student. Waitage identified the soldier as a Lance Corporal in the Ethiopian Army.

He said the soldier, who surrendered his weapons and Ethiopian Army uniforms to Kenyan authorities, was immediately handed over to Military Intelligence officers for debriefing.

His university student counterpart was placed in police custody at Moyale. Waitage said 22 other university students were being held at the station.

The soldiers and the students have cited discontent in the Armed Forces and Government oppression as reasons for their flight. They are seeking political asylum.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Force Commander and Chief Military Observer of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Brigadier-General, Christopher Kibet arap Kutto, has been recalled.

Military sources in Nairobi disclosed that the one-star general, who has served the mission for only four months, has been replaced by the Chief of Logistics at the Department of Defence (DoD) headquarters, Brigadier-General, Peter Manyara.

Manyara’s appointment is the third involving a senior Kenyan military officer.

Lieutenant General, Daniel Opande, the then Kenya’s Vice Chief of General Staff (VCGS), was appointed in October last year as the Commander of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).