President William Ruto on Thursday, February 6 night held a phone call conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In a statement, the President said they reviewed the bilateral relations between Kenya and the US and reaffirmed mutual commitment to strengthening the existing cooperation.
Ruto also noted that they discussed the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti and Rubio confirmed to him that the US government has exempted its support for the mission from President Donald Trump’s directive to pause all foreign aid.
“Our discussion confirmed that the United States has specifically exempted its support for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti from the broader pause on federal assistance, recognising the critical need to sustain momentum for the mission and its role in stabilising Haiti and restoring order,” Ruto stated.
The Head of State further said they discussed regional peace and security in Africa, particularly the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
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Ruto and Rubio additionally discussed the joint meeting between the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) set to be held on Friday, February 7 in Tanzania.
This comes after UN secretary-general's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday announced they had received an official notification from the US Government to freeze a Ksh 1.7 billion contribution to the MSS mission.
However, on Thursday, the US Embassy in Haiti clarified that the US Government had not paused all assistance for the MSS mission in Haiti.
The Embassy noted that Rubio has approved waivers for $40.7 million (5.2 billion) in mission-critical assistance to the MSS mission and Haitian National Police (HNP).
“The Department of State approved waivers for $40.7 million in foreign assistance to benefit the HNP and MSS mission. This includes logistical contracts to support forward operating bases, a vehicle maintenance contract to support the MSS mission fleet, a medical services contract for the HNP, and transportation services for Department of State provided equipment deliveries, and contracts that support subject matter experts with the HNP,” the US Embassy stated.
Meanwhile, Kenya has deployed an additional 144 police officers to Haiti to support combating gangs in the Caribbean nation.
