The State of Israel has honoured the late Maj Gen Francis Vib-Sanziri, the former Head of Missions and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

A road on the Golan Heights in Israel has been named after him in tribute to the late Ghanaian, who has been described as “a great leader”.

The road is now ‘Vib-Sanziri Route’.
This was contained in a statement by the Director Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces Colonel Eric Aggrey-Quarshie.

The statement said a citation, which was read at the dedication ceremony said, ‘Vib-Sanziri Route’ is named after Maj Gen Francis Vib-Sanziri (1957-2019) of the Ghana Defence Force, who served as Head of Missions and Force Commander of UNDOF 2017-2019.
“He was a true fighter for peace who played a key role in numerous peacekeeping operations across the world.
“The State of Israel salutes Maj Gen F Vib-Sanziri for his commitment to enabling stability and security for both Israelis and Syrians.
“He will be remembered as a true partner, a great leader, and most of all – a visionary”, the statement said.

Maj Gen Francis Vib-Sanziri died on Friday April 19, 2019 in Israel while serving as the Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
He was buried on Friday, June 28, 2019 at the New Military Cemetery in Accra, Ghana.

Maj Gen Vib-Sanziri passed on in his hotel room in Eilat, Israel on Good Friday April 19, 2019.

About Major General Vib-Sanziri

Since joining the Ghanaian Armed Forces in 1985, Maj. Gen. Vib-Sanziri had a distinguished military career at national and international levels.

He served as Director-General of the International Peace Support Operations at the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces since April 2017, and also as an Assistant Director, Ghana Army Operations (1996-1998), Deputy Head of the Ghana Military Academy (2002-2004), Commanding Officer of an Infantry Battalion (2004-2009), Director for International Peacekeeping Support Operations in 2009 and Army Secretary at the Army Headquarters (2010-2011).
In 2014, he was appointed Director-General for Joint Operations, General Headquarters. He served as Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organization from 2015 to 2017.
Major General Vib-Sanziri’s extensive peacekeeping experience includes deployments to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1988 and 1991, United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) in 1993 and 1994 and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) in 2007.
He also served with the Economic Community of West Africa States Monitoring Group in Liberia in 1990, in Sierra Leone, in 1999 and 2000, and, subsequently, with the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL). From 2011 to 2014, he served as a strategic military planner in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations.
Major General Vib-Sanziri holds a master’s degree in military art and science from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, in the United States, a post-graduate certificate in public administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography and rural resource development from the University of Ghana.
He is a graduate of the Nigerian Armed Forces Command and General Staff College, Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College and the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.