Haiti’s government has declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew after an explosion of gang-led violence and a consequent jail escape of over 4,000 inmates after assaults on the country’s two biggest prisons.
The 72-hour state of emergency went into immediate effect on Sunday evening as the government vowed to find the killers, kidnappers and other violent criminals said to have escaped.
This comes after Haiti’s top brass returned from Kenya, whereby Prime Minister Henri Ariel and President Ruto agreed to deploy Kenyan police to help bring calm to the disturbed island nation.
On Friday last week, Interior CS Kindiki Kithure signed off the arrangement to deploy a contingent of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti. They will lead a multinational mission aimed at restoring law and order in the Caribbean nation.
Prime Minister Henri thanked President Ruto and Kenyans for offering to lead the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti.
“What this mission is bringing is hope for the future of humankind, for a people who cannot see how they will live tomorrow,” the prime minister said.
He pledged that his government would accord the Kenyan contingent all the necessary support to make the mission a success.