Kenyan Troops in UN Peace Mission in Haiti
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- The new Prime Minister of Haiti thanked Kenya for responding to their distress call. We are very grateful to the people of Kenya and we request GoK to send more police officers.
- The initial reports indicated that the total number of officers to be deployed stood at 1,000.
- It is worth noting the deployment of the first batch came just few days after the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Japheth Koome hosted a delegation of police officers from Haiti at police headquarters in Nairobi.
- The IGP assured them that the government of Kenya has finalized plans to deploy Kenyan police officers to Haiti.
- Being one of the countries that heard your cry, Kenya is committed to help in restoring peace and stability in your country.
Recently, the Government of Kenya (GoK) sent the first batch of Kenyan police officers to the troubled nation of Haiti.
The deployment had been delayed because of three main reasons.
One, clearing the hurdles placed in the way of anchoring this process in law.
Two, the camp where the officers would stay had not yet been completed.
Three, the resignation of the Prime Minister of Haiti.
This created a power vacuum. The GoK had to wait for this matter to be sorted out.
Media reports indicated that on arrival the Kenyan troops were warmly received by the great people of Haiti.
Thereafter, they started undertaking the specific security operations of patrolling capital city.
The US is playing a key role in this United Nation (UN) peace keeping mission.
This explains why a few a days the US supplied Kenyan officers with Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs).
So far so good. Media reports have indicated the officers were doing well.
This is contrary to the impression created by the critics of President William Ruto that they had been sent into a death-trap.
For starters, the main objective of this operation is restore peace in this troubled country.
The new Prime Minister of Haiti thanked Kenya for responding to their distress call. We are very grateful to the people of Kenya and we request GoK to send more police officers.
The initial reports indicated that the total number of officers to be deployed stood at 1,000.
It is worth noting the deployment of the first batch came just few days after the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Japheth Koome hosted a delegation of police officers from Haiti at police headquarters in Nairobi.
The IGP assured them that the government of Kenya has finalized plans to deploy Kenyan police officers to Haiti.
Being one of the countries that heard your cry, Kenya is committed to help in restoring peace and stability in your country.
It is worth noting that this operation is being carried out under the banner of Multilateral Security Support Mission (MSS).
During this visit, the leader of Haiti police delegation thanked President Ruto and his government for responding positively to their distress call. He assured the Kenyan police that they will work closely with them and provide them with necessary support.
An advance team led by Deputy IG Noor Gabow which had a few days earlier visited Haiti to asses the situation had just returned back to country.
Besides Kenya, Chad, Burundi and Nigeria are among the countries in Africa which have so far agreed to send officers for the same mission.
They join those from Jamaica, Chile, Paraguay, Barbados, Brenda, Germany, France and Canada.
Contrary to the impression created by one of the mainstream newspaper, the deployment of the Kenyan officers had not been designed to coincide with President William Ruto’s recent state visit to the United States of America (USA).
The decision to deploy 1,000 officers had been made before President Joe Biden made the decision to invite him.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Singoei kept updating the country on why deployment had been delayed.
He always denied rumors being peddled around that the government had developed cold feet.
We have made this decision because of the resignation of the Prime Minister Henri Ariel.
Also, some ministers and top police officers have also been forced by the Haitian gangs to resign and flee.
So, there was no government in place to receive our officers and direct them on how to carry out the operations.
The Government of Kenya believes in the constitution and rule of law. So, in Haiti, it looked forward to work with a constitutional authority, PS Singoei reiterated.
This position would be adopted by other countries that had agreed to join the United Nation led Multilateral Security Support Mission (MSS). The Haitian transitional council has since appointed a new Prime Minister.
I had earlier written an article in this column. I noted.
The critics of President William Ruto wants Kenyans to believe that Kenya is the only country sending officers to that country. This is not true.
President William Ruto had earlier hosted the Prime Minister of Haiti Henri Ariel at State House Nairobi. The two leaders signed an agreement paving the way for deployment. The PM resigned a few days later.
Reports indicate that Kenyan parliament and the Court of Appeal had okayed the deployment. This showed the law was being followed to the letter and spirit.
So the claims by Dr Ruto’s critics that he was forcing the decision down the throat of Kenyans did not hold any water.
Having read sections 107,108 and 109 of the National Police Service (NPS), I’m persuaded to believe that the decisions that the President had made so far were within the law.
I heard the Cabinet Secretary for Interior Kithure Kindiki elaborating this matter further.
He stated that the deployment cannot be done without an approval of Parliament. Granted, I’m persuaded to believe President Ruto equally shares his sentiments.
The constitution is the supreme law of the land.
It is wrong to point an accusing at President Ruto.
Given this scenario, the grounds cited by those opposed are weak.
Kenyans can only listen to them if they manage to convince the court that the three sections are unconstitutional and should be removed from NPS Act.
As we know, the people of Haiti had been in big trouble. The vicious marauding criminal gangs have forcibly taken over and overrun thier country
For the starters, I want to share with them some of the atrocities that were being committed there.
The gangs were raping women and chopping the heads of thier fellow citizens. The children were not spared.
The hospitals and schools had been closed and the main roads blocked. More than ten Police stations have run down. A prison have been broken into and thousands of prisoners secured their ‘freedom’.
The staff of humanitarian and charitable organizations were being targeted. They were blocked from accessing the camps where hundreds of thousands of Haitians had sought refugee to offer them food and medications.
This is the reason why Haitian leaders, who were on the run and some besieged, had pleaded with UN to intervene.
If you ask historians, this is what they would tell you about Haiti. This was the first country to emancipate itself from the colonial slavery. The people living in this caribbean nation are Africans.
President Ruto remembered this while explaining why Kenya is touched with thier pains and agony.
The people of Haiti are human beings just like us. Taking cognizant that Kenya is a member of the community of nations, it is wrong to sit and watch when they are suffering.
It is worth noting this is not the first time that the government of Kenya is sending security personnel to join the Africa Union or United Nations peace keeping missions.
The history of the previous Kenyan administrations is replete with this.
The previous deployments were approved at a time when Kenya had fallen far short of meeting the UN requirement of the ratio of 1: 450. This means one police officer taking care of 450 citizens.
How come Ruto’s critics never raised it during the reigns of the previous governments?
So, thier comments reeked more of hypocrisy and insincerity.
I also totally disagree that President Ruto was doing this in order to earn international recognization, mostly from the white people.
The President had already curved a niche of a renowned leader because of his style of leadership at home.
The world leaders particularly liked him because of strongly believing in tenets of democracy, constitution and rule of law.
Besides, Dr Ruto believes in the concept of Pan-Africanism. This has thrust him into the international stage where he has been championing the course of our people.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
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