NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 4 – Azimio La Umoja One Kenya co-Principal Kalonzo Musyoka has implored President William Ruto to respect the rule of law in his spirited attempts to deploy security officers to Haiti.
Musyoka who attended a church service in Kajiado County questioned the urgency by the government to deploy the police which is a clear contravention of the Constitution and disregard of court rulings.
“Let the government have patience, why are they sending our police officers for them to be injured there, they don’t even understand French,” he stated.
“They should be a special plan and dialogue in Parliament before we commit our young men and women to do duty on an international scale like that.”
The court ruled that Kenya’s National Security Council, which is led by the president, does not have the authority to deploy regular police outside the country and can only deploy military.
The Wiper Leader questioned why President William Ruto was undermining the independence of the Judiciary by threatening to disregard court orders that deal a blow his government agenda.
“Some who took oath to defend this constitution and the next thing he says he will disregard court orders. We need to pray for these leaders,” Musyoka noted.
Last November, parliament ratified the deployment of 1,000 officers to lead a multinational force in Haiti, where gangs are attempting to expand their territorial control.
President Ruto said on Tuesday the mission could go ahead “as soon as next week” if all the paperwork was done to satisfy the court’s demands.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Italy-Africa summit in Rome, Mr Ruto on Tuesday told Reuters news agency that he expected a request would come soon that would satisfy the demands of the Kenyan court.
“The mission is on course. The mission is a bigger calling to humanity,” he added.
Asked if there were efforts for Haiti to get the necessary request, Mr Ruto said: “Absolutely.”
“Haiti have actually written formally, not today, several months ago,” he added.
The court said there must be a reciprocal agreement between the two countries before the deployment.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Chacha Mwita praised Kenya’s offer to deploy police to Haiti, but said it needed to be carried out within the law.
The government said it would appeal against the court ruling.
The US said last week that it supports the government’s intention to challenge the ruling.
But the opposition on Tuesday warned the US against meddling in Kenya’s internal affairs.
