Kenyan police are set to deploy to Haiti within days to lead a UN-backed multinational mission aimed at combating gang violence, a senior government official announced on Sunday.
“That deployment will happen in the next few days, few weeks,” said Korir Sing’Oei, Kenya’s principal secretary for foreign affairs, just before President William Ruto’s scheduled visit to Washington to meet with US President Joe Biden on May 23.
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Haiti has long struggled with poverty, political instability, and natural disasters, and the multinational force aims to support Haiti’s police in curbing rampant gang activity.
Kenya committed last July to sending up to 1,000 personnel to Haiti, a move welcomed by the United States and other nations that had opted against deploying their own forces.
However, the mission has encountered legal hurdles. Kenyan petitioners in an ongoing case have accused Ruto’s government of disregarding a January court order that deemed the deployment unconstitutional and illegal.
According to the latest lawsuit, petitioners had been “reliably informed” that the deployment might occur no later than May 23, underscoring the urgency of their application.
A Haitian source informed AFP in early May that an initial contingent of 200 Kenyan police was anticipated by that date.
A source in Kenya’s interior ministry confirmed to AFP that the police could arrive by next Tuesday.
In addition to Kenya, other countries expressing willingness to participate in the mission, established under a UN resolution in October last year, include Benin, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, and Chad.
The situation in Haiti, a nation of 11.6 million people, has deteriorated since late February as heavily armed gangs, which control most of Port-au-Prince and large parts of the country, launched a violent campaign purportedly aimed at overthrowing then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
