A Kenyan court has rejected the government’s proposal to send police to Haiti to head an international mission supported by the UN to reestablish law and order in the Caribbean country beset by gang violence.
The decision is made at the same time as the government of Haiti demands the immediate deployment of an international force to support the overburdened police force in combating widespread violence.
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In October, the UN Security Council authorized the Kenya-led operation, which has been the target of domestic criticism and a lawsuit brought before the Nairobi High Court last year.
Recently, Judge Enock Chacha Mwita declared that “any decision by any state organ or state officer to deploy police officers to Haiti… contravenes the constitution and the law and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and invalid.”
“An order is hereby issued prohibiting deployment of police forces to Haiti or any other country,” he noted.
The Kenyan government did not immediately respond to the decision.
In a country devastated by colonialism, President William Ruto had before referred to the Kenyan project as a “mission for mankind.
Haiti’s foreign minister begged the UN Security Council to expedite the deployment, comparing the horrors of gang violence in the nation to those found in conflict zones.
Jean Victor Geneus informed the council, “The Haitian people cannot take any more. I hope this time is the last time I will speak before the deployment of a multinational force to support our security forces.”
Kenya’s ambassador to the UN, Martin Kimani, stated that the country has made “significant progress” toward readying itself to assume the mission. Before this, the government had declared that it was prepared to send up to 1,000 people.
As Haiti descends more into crisis—homicides more than doubled last year, according to a UN report—the verdict upends these preparations.
With their Haitian counterparts outnumbered and outgunned by gang members, Kenyan police were supposed to lead the multinational mission, which was originally allowed for a year.
The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti, has been in chaos for years due to armed gangs taking over portions of the country and committing horrific acts of violence, as well as a severely damaged public health system and economy.
The nation descended into even more anarchy following President Jovenel Moise’s death in 2021. Since 2016, there have been no elections, and the president is still unfilled.
