By Lauryne Akoth
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry is in Kenya to sort out issues barring the deployment of Kenya’s police officers to Haiti on a UN-led peace mission.
“Kenya associates itself with the people of Haiti because of our common heritage. We are offering the experience and expertise of our police officers in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti as mandated by the United Nations Security Council and as guided by our courts,” Ruto said in a post on his X page.
He met the Prime Minister of Haiti Ariel Henry at State House, Nairobi this afternoon.
Henry is in Kenya right after the 46th Ordinary Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of State and Government in Guyana which took place on 28th February.
Their meeting follows Ruto’s greenlight to proceed with plans to lead a U.N.-approved security mission to Haiti, despite a court in Nairobi blocking the deployment.
The international force is aimed at tackling rampant gang violence in the Caribbean nation, which killed nearly 5,000 people in 2023 and is due to be initially financed by the United States.
The mission was thrown into doubt after the Kenyan court ruled that it would be unconstitutional to deploy officers abroad unless there was a “reciprocal arrangement” in place with the host government.
Ruto said Haiti had asked for help months ago, and he expected a request would come shortly that would satisfy the demands of the court.
“So that mission can go ahead as soon as next week if all the paperwork is done between Kenya and Haiti on the bilateral route that has been suggested by the court,” Ruto said following an Italian-Africa summit in Rome in January 2024.