Zimbabwean lands top UN mission appointment

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has appointed Raisedon Zenenga, a Zimbabwean, as his deputy special representative of the United Nations Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).

In a statement on Friday, the UN said Zenenga would replace Fatiha Serour of Algeria. Zenenga has over 30 years experience working with the UN, government and diplomatic missions. He has spent 21 years on UN missions in troubled areas like Liberia, Iraq, Kuwait, Sierra Leone and Somalia.

He us currently the Deputy Special Representative (Political) with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Before that, he was a senior manager at the UN headquarters in New York during which he was involved in several peacekeeping operations in Africa.

Zenenga, who is married and has three children, is a University of Zimbabwe graduate in public administration and political science.

He was also trained in diplomacy by the Australian Development Assistance Bureau.

Somalia has for decades been a hot spot for political strife and is considered one of the poorest countries in the world because of its drawn out crisis.