By CHATULA KAMPO –
THE United Nations (UN) has honoured two fallen Zambian peacekeepers with the Dag Hammarskjöld medal posthumously for their gallantly.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon awarded Major Alfred Richard Banda and Chief Inspector Ebert Sianyona who died last year, while serving with the United Nations-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).
According to a statement released by United States First Secretary for Press and Public Relations Chibaula Silwamba, Mr Ban in a message marking the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, said 106 peacekeepers died last year, while serving in UN operations worldwide.
Zambia currently contributes 142 military and Police personnel to six United Nations peacekeeping operations, with the largest number serving in Darfur, according to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).
“We mourn the passing of every one of these courageous individuals. We grieve with their friends and families and we recommit ourselves to ensure that their contributions to the cause of peace will never be forgotten,” he said
Mr Ban officiated at the wreath-laying ceremony in honour of the fallen peacekeepers.
Zambia UN Mission military adviser, Brigadier General Erick Mwewa, attended the solemn ceremony on Thursday, May 29.
The medals are named after the late Secretary-General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld, who died in 1961 in a plane crash in Ndola.
