Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has announced that the deployment of 1000 police officers to Haiti is in the pre-redeployment phase.
Speaking on Monday March 11, Kindiki said all frameworks including the law of detention, arrest, and standard operation procedures have been finalized.
“There was a small court matter but it has been resolved because the court said we needed to have a reciprocal agreement with Haiti that agreement has already been signed so we are now in the pre-deployment stage, and all the other programs are in place including the status of forces agreement and the laws of detention, arrest, standard operation procedures and other enforcement are in place,” said Kindiki.
The Interior CS went on to say the Kenyan officers will lead a multi-national security mission that will include troops from other countries.
“Kenyan police officers will just be part of the multinational security mission in Haiti, Kenya is the lead nation but there are so many other countries that have pledged to contribute troops and this came from the mandate of the United nation Security Counsel so it’s part of our international obligations,” Kindiki added.
Read More
This comes a day after President William Ruto held a phone call with United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken over the escalating situation in Haiti.
During the conversation, the two leaders underscored their commitment to the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti and ensuring free and fair elections are held in the Caribbean nation.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto to discuss the ongoing political and security crisis in Haiti. They underscored unwavering commitment to the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission to support the Haitian National Police in creating the security conditions necessary to conduct free and fair elections,” Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
The Kenyan officers were set to be deployed in February but the High Court blocked it saying it was unconstitutional.
Kenya and Haiti on March 1 signed an agreement formalizing the deployment of 1,000 police officers to the North American nation.