Kenya To Send Police Officers To Haiti: Here's Why

Canada is one of the nations that has been leading and mobilising support for Haiti to restore peace and stability, and Kenya would join the initiative.

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Apr 23, 2023 - 12:55 Updated: Apr 23, 2023 - 12:55
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Kenya To Send Police Officers To Haiti: Here's Why
Kenya Police stepping off a truck in Nairobi. /THE CONVERSATION

Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Alfred Mutua, on Saturday, April 22 announced that Kenya would deploy its police officers to Haiti in North America, the third largest country in the Caribbean by area.

The CS stated that the decision was reached following a phone conversation with Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly to come up with solutions regarding the worrying political status quo in Haiti. This has led to an outbreak of gang violence which has left many dead, others injured and many more displaced. 

Canada is one of the nations that has been leading and mobilising support for Haiti to restore peace and stability, and Kenya would join the initiative.

"We reviewed the situation in Haiti where gangs have made the towns and peoples' lives unbearable. In this regard, Kenya has offered to send police officers to assist in stabilizing the country.

Side-by-side image of Canadian Foreign Affairs minister Melanie Joly and her Kenyan counterpart Alfred Mutua. /FILE

"Canada is one of the nations that has been at the forefront in supporting Haiti’s process towards stability," Mutua stated in part.

Mutua and Joly at the same time discussed the ongoing crisis in Sudan as well as the global interventions that would be required, with both of them calling for an immediate ceasefire and respect for human rights and calling on countries undermining Sudan’s peace and stability to refrain from doing so immediately.

In the same vein, Kenya offered to mediate between the two warring groups in Sudan, with both countries agreeing to support each other in the evacuation of its citizens.

"In regard to bilateral engagements, my target is to open more opportunities for Kenyans to work in Canada. Already, we are adjusting our TVET curriculum to meet the Canadian Labour market so that our graduates can qualify for immediate placement in Canada.

"We are keen to not only attract Canadian investors to Kenya but also open up the Canadian market for value-added products from Kenya," added Mutua.

The decision was however criticised by Kenyans on social media who wondered why the government was rushing to assist foreign countries with police officers while the officers in the North Rift continue to battle the banditry menace.

A report released by the United Nations (UN)'s High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and quoted by DW said that as of March 15, a total of 531 people had been killed, 300 injured, and 277 kidnapped in gang-related violence in 2023 alone.

"Clashes between gangs are becoming more violent and more frequent, as they try to expand their territorial control throughout the capital," DW quoted the OHCHR statement as saying.

The violence has led to a dire humanitarian crisis in the Caribbean nation, with the UN now calling for the international community to intervene for the sake of the innocent Haitians, with over 160,000 people displaced so far.

This week, a hospital in the capital run by Doctors Without Borders was closed down after a patient leaving the hospital was shot dead by the gangs. There is also a health crisis in Haiti following an outbreak of cholera as a result of poor sanitation and a lack of clean water. 

In 2022 alone, more than 2,000 deaths related to gang violence were recorded in the capital Port-au-Prince, with 1,114 people kidnapped by the gangs.

Haiti has been plunged into further crisis following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. The gangs have taken over, overwhelming the national police, as they control at least 60 per cent of the capital. 

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been in charge since the assassination of Moise and has repeatedly called for the deployment of an international force to help the Haitian police, who are seemingly overwhelmed by the gangs. 

People walk along a street filled with smoke from burning tires during a protest against the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in Cap-Haitien, Haiti July 22, 2021. /REUTERS

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