NAIROBI Kenya, Oct 25-Kenya will deploy a second contingent of 300 police officers to Haiti early next year to bolster efforts in combating gang control in Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas.
In a statement on Friday, Prime and Foreign Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi announced this following a bilateral discussion with The Bahamas’ Prime Minister, Philip Davis. He indicated that the deployment is part of Kenya’s ongoing commitment to addressing Haiti’s security challenges.
Davis expressed gratitude for Kenya’s assistance in Haiti and noted that The Bahamas would send 150 officers to support the mission. This deployment is intended to pave the way for the establishment of a full United Nations mission later this year.
“The mission has already succeeded in stabilizing critical infrastructure, including the airport, the national hospital, and several vital installations and major roadways throughout Port-au-Prince,” said Mudavadi.
However, Mudavadi urged all stakeholders, particularly those who previously pledged support, alongside the United Nations, to extend financial and logistical resources to ensure the mission’s sustained impact, with the ultimate goal of restoring peace and normalcy for the Haitian people.
This announcement follows President Ruto’s confirmation that a contingent of 600 officers will soon join the 400 Kenyan police already stationed in Haiti after completing pre-deployment training. Kenya has pledged to provide a total of 1,000 officers to lead the Multi-National Security Support Mission (MSSM) in Haiti, with the initial deployment of 400 officers having begun in September.
“Our next batch, an additional 600, is undergoing redeployment training. We will be mission-ready in a few weeks and look forward to the requisite support to enable their deployment,” Ruto stated.
This comes days after Haiti’s Interim Prime Minister, Garry Conille, visited Kenya and addressed earlier concerns that language barriers between Haitian forces and Kenyan police could hinder peacekeeping efforts. Conille assured that the language differences, primarily Swahili and English spoken by Kenyan officers and French and Creole by Haitian counterparts, have not affected the mission’s effectiveness.
He emphasized the urgency of sustaining the mission’s progress amidst Haiti’s ongoing humanitarian and security crises, urging the international community to fulfill their financial commitments to the mission. Continued progress, he warned, depends on honoring these pledges.
Haiti has been grappling with a surge in violence since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, which has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands.
