(Nairobi) After several setbacks, Kenya announced on Sunday that it could deploy police officers to Haiti, to lead a multinational mission supported by the UN aimed at combating gang violence, in “the coming days, the coming weeks”.
Approved in October by the UN Security Council, the mission has fallen behind schedule due to the instability reigning on the Caribbean island but also to legal recourse in Kenya, where the government’s choice has sparked criticism and concerns.
The Kenyan government’s announcement comes just ahead of President William Ruto’s visit to Washington to meet US President Joe Biden on May 23. Washington is a major financial and logistical supporter of this mission.
“This deployment will take place in the next few days, the next few weeks,” Korir Sing’oei, principal secretary at Kenya’s foreign ministry, told reporters.
Kenya agreed to lead this multinational mission requested by the Haitian authorities, the UN and the international community but in which many countries did not wish to participate. Nairobi said it was ready to send up to a thousand police officers. Other countries must also contribute to this force (Benin, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Chad, etc.).
“Suicide mission”
The decision has sparked strong criticism in the East African country, where critics say it is dangerous and unconstitutional. One opponent even called the operation a “suicide mission”.
Leaders of the opposition Third Way Alliance party, Ekuru Aukot and Miruru Waweru, filed a new application in the Nairobi High Court on Thursday.
They invoke “contempt of court”, asserting that the government is preparing to carry out the operation, which the same court had deemed “unconstitutional, illegal and invalid” on January 26.
“The applicants are reliably informed that the deployment can be carried out at any time from now on, but no later than May 23, 2024, hence the urgency of this request,” they emphasize in their appeal.
A Haitian government source told AFP in early May that a first contingent of 200 Kenyan police officers was due to arrive on May 23.
The capital Port-au-Prince is 80% in the hands of criminal gangs, accused of numerous abuses, in particular murders, rapes, looting and kidnappings for ransom.
According to a source at the Kenyan Interior Ministry, the police could arrive by Tuesday.
President William Ruto and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry signed an agreement on this deployment on 1er March in Nairobi.
But a few days later, the latter, prevented from returning to Haiti where gangs had carried out coordinated attacks against strategic sites, announced that he was going to leave power.
The country is now led by a transitional council, which must form a government and appoint a prime minister.
“No formal deployment request has been made by the government of Haiti for the deployment of police officers to Haiti; there is no government in place in Haiti capable of making such a request or signing a bilateral agreement with Kenya for the deployment of police officers in Haiti; and there is no Parliament in place in Haiti to ratify such an agreement,” opponents Aukot and Waweru argued in their appeal.
American preparations
At the beginning of May, the American army indicated that it had begun to deploy precursor elements to the sending of the multinational force in Haiti.
“US Southern Command [le Commandement sud de l’armée américaine] coordinated several flights of U.S. military aircraft transporting contracted civilian personnel, equipment and supplies to Toussaint Louverture International Airport” in Port-au-Prince, according to a statement.
The United States intends to contribute financially and in equipment to this force but without participating with troops or police officers.
A poor Caribbean country, Haiti has suffered from chronic political instability for decades.
The capital Port-au-Prince is 80% in the hands of criminal gangs, accused of numerous abuses, in particular murders, rapes, looting and kidnappings for ransom.
The population is facing a serious humanitarian crisis, with shortages of food, medicine and other basic goods.