After months of waiting, a first contingent of Kenyan police arrived Tuesday in Port-au-Prince, as part of an international mission aimed at restoring security in Haiti, a country ravaged by gang violence.
A plane from the national company Kenya Airways landed shortly before 10 a.m. local time at the airport of the Haitian capital with this first contingent of 400 police officers on board, noted an AFP correspondent on site.
The plane flew from Nairobi on Monday evening after Kenyan President William Ruto visited the police before their departure.
“This mission is one of the most urgent, important and historic in the history of global solidarity,” declared the head of state during a closed-door ceremony, according to comments reported by the presidential office.
Kenya has proposed sending a thousand police officers to Haiti for the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS), planned for an initial duration of one year, and to which Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, the Bahamas and Barbados.
The deployment of this force was approved by a UN Security Council resolution in October, but it has sparked strong criticism in Kenya.
An anti-government protest movement in Kenya turned into chaos on Tuesday in the capital Nairobi. At least five people were killed and 31 injured during these demonstrations, according to several NGOs including Amnesty Kenya.
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A monumental mission
The task of the security mission in Haiti promises to be daunting.
Haiti has suffered from chronic political instability for decades and faces a resurgence of gang violence, which controls 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince, coupled with a humanitarian crisis.
The situation suddenly worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince to overthrow the prime minister at the time, Ariel Henry.
Since then, transitional authorities including an interim prime minister, Garry Conille, have been formed with the mission of restoring stability.
The number of internally displaced people has increased by 60% since March due to intensifying gang violence, now reaching a total of almost 600,000 people, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The mission supported by the UN and in which the United States is very involved on the logistical level – without however providing men – must support the Haitian police in the fight against the gangs which terrorize the population.
“I salute the determination of the Kenyan government and its people to support Haiti in the fight against the insecurity that is eroding society,” Prime Minister Garry Conille said on the X network.
Haiti “wishes this multinational mission to be the last one that helps it stabilize for the renewal of political personnel and the return to effective democracy,” he added, while the restoration of security in this country of Caribbean must eventually allow elections to be held. The last election in Haiti dates back to 2016.