2024-03-12 18:34:33
Kenya has decided to suspend the planned dispatch of police officers to Haiti, as part of an international mission supported by the UN, a senior official from the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday, March 12.
The United States reacted immediately: the State Department said it saw no reason to delay this police mission. “I would of course be concerned about any delay, but we do not believe a delay is necessary”State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
A thousand police officers planned
“There has been a radical change following the complete breakdown of law and order and the resignation of the Prime Minister of Haiti” Ariel Henry, said Korir Sing’oei, secretary general of the Kenyan ministry.
“Without political administration in Haiti, there is no anchor point on which a police deployment can be based, the (Kenyan) government will therefore wait for the installation of a new constitutional authority in Haiti before taking action. ‘other decisions on the question »he added.
He added that Nairobi, however, remained willing to “provide leadership” to the international mission, which was approved by the UN Security Council in October.
Kenya had said it was ready to send a thousand police officers to Haiti, in the grip of chaos due to clashes between the police and armed gangs, but this project encountered numerous legal obstacles in Kenya.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose gangs and part of the population demanded the resignation, announced Monday evening that he was leaving power, while this poor Caribbean country is in the grip of a deep security and political crisis.
An agreement signed on March 1
However, the Kenyan head of state William Ruto and Ariel Henry signed an agreement on March 1 in Nairobi to send Kenyan police officers.
Faced with increasingly pressing calls from the Haitian government and the UN, Kenya agreed in July 2023 to lead this force of 2,500 to 2,600 men, hoped for “during the first quarter of 2024”according to the UN deputy special representative in Haiti.
The Kenyan Parliament had validated the deployment, before it was blocked by a court decision at the end of January. The government had announced its intention to appeal. Kenya must lead this multinational mission.
At the end of February, five countries, including Benin with more than 1,500 men, notified the UN of their participation in the future mission. The other members of this mission are the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados and Chad, said the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric.
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