How soon will Kenya deploy police troops to Haiti? – Summary

Source: https://president.go.ke/welcoming-the-unsc-resolution-authorising-the-multinational-security-support-mission-to-haiti/

What we know:

In the face of the current insecurity situation in Haiti, Kenya has been at the forefront of conversations about the deployment of police officers as part of a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to support the Haitian National Police restore peace in the country ahead of expected elections.
Kenya had at least 90 days to put together structures including the Concept of Operations (Conops), rules of engagement, and other administrative issues after the UN Security Council endorsed the MSS in October.
The East African country signed a bilateral agreement with Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Nairobi Kenya with President William Ruto indicating willingness to deploy police officers from his country but the process has been delayed since the former’s return to his country after talks.
The United Nations and the US have since expressed concerns over the delays but have been cautious not to appear as wanting to usurp Kenya’s legal procedures including a court case to determine whether Nairobi deploys police officers to Haiti.
The court case which is at the Court of Appeal is challenging the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to the gang-controlled Caribbean nation.

What they said:

During a press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York on March 6, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the UN Security Council was concerned the MSS hadn’t begun even as violence escalated in Haiti. He noted that the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador is working on promoting dialogue among stakeholders and leaders to tackle the crisis. Ms Salvador remains in close contact with the PM, the government and other stakeholders from across the political spectrum to encourage a peaceful and constructive inter-Haitian dialogue to promote a nationally-owned political solution to this crisis,” Stéphane Dujarric said. “We have not yet received an official notification, in line with Security Council resolution 2699. However – as you have seen, as this was public - President Ruto of Kenya has publicly expressed that his country is ready to deploy police officers to Haiti in the context of the Multinational [Security] Support mission,” he further noted.

Wonder Hagan