200 Kenyan police officers to leave for Haiti next week

Approximately 200 Kenyan police officers will be deployed to Haiti next week as part of the UN Security Council-backed security mission to Port-au-Prince.

This comes after Kenya, in July 2023, volunteered to lead the mission and deploy 1,000 troops to restore order to the troubled Caribbean nation overrun by marauding criminal gangs.

According to the Nation newspaper, the officers, drawn from the elite Recce squad, Rapid Deployment Force and Special Operation Group, will touch down in Port-au-Prince around May 23 or 24, to align with President William Ruto's official visit to the United States.

The US government has pledged $100 million (Ksh.13 billion) to support the mission to Haiti, further urging other nations to make similar contributions.

Around half of the platoon, which will operate from a barrack recently established by the US government, will be tasked with securing critical infrastructure in Port-au-Prince while the rest will engage the criminal gangs in close-quarter combat.

In March, Ruto announced the signing of an agreement between Kenya and Haiti to facilitate Nairobi's involvement in the multinational security mission.

The signing of the agreement, witnessed by Ruto and then Prime Minister Henri, marked a crucial step towards the deployment of Kenyan troops to Port-au-Prince.

In April, Kenya subsequently welcomed the swearing-in of the Haiti Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) tasked with re-establishing key organs of the Haitian government critical to the restoration of law and order in Port-au-Prince.

The 9-member council officially took over on April 25, formalizing the resignation Henry as Prime Minister.

Michel Patrick Boisvert, who served as Henry's finance minister, will act as interim prime minister until the transition council selects a new leader, forms a cabinet and establishes a provisional electoral council aimed at facilitating the country's upcoming 2026 elections.