President William Ruto is under pressure to ensure that Kenya deploys police officers to Haiti, as violence intensifies. The United Nations (UN) and the US raised concerns over the delayed deployment of Kenyan police officers.
On Sunday, March 10, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated Kenya’s commitment to deploy police officers to Haiti but did not talk about the legal challenges that were raised by Kenyan courts.
Blinken, in a statement, said he had spoken with Ruto on the ongoing political and security crisis in Haiti.
“They underscored unwavering commitment to the deployment of a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to support the Haitian National Police in creating the security conditions necessary to conduct free and fair elections,” the statement from the US State Department read.
Haiti is under a state of emergency amid increased fighting that escalated while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Nairobi seeking to accelerate the police deployment deal with President Ruto.
This development comes after Kenya announced in 2023 that it would lead the U.N.-backed mission, however, the high court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Chacha Mwita found that sending Kenyan police to Haiti was unconstitutional.
Kenya is expected to deploy at least 1,000 police officers to Haiti, where it is estimated that 200 to 300 gangs control large swathes of the country, with 90 per cent of the capital, and Port-au-Prince under gangs.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@nairobilawmonthly.com, and to advertise with us, call +254715061658 anytime of the day
