Archbishop Ole Sapit condemns deployment of Kenyan troops to Haiti

Anglican Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit has faulted President William Ruto's push to send Kenya's police officers to Haiti.

The Archbishop says the move is ill-informed as residents of the northern parts of the country continue to grapple with insecurity.

"It doesn't make sense to send troops to Haiti when we have insecurity problems across the country and especially in the North Rift. Our request is that as the government send troops to Haiti, they should also better security across Kenya.," said Ole Sapit.

The majority of the residents in the area who fled their homes for safety continue to grapple with a deplorable state at IDP camps in Lolmolog, Longewan, and Ang'ata Nanyekie.

The archbishop, who is on a working tour of Samburu County, and local leaders from the area want the insecurity in the North Rift region put to an end before the government commits the country's security personnel to Haiti.

Philip Lerno, Loosuk area chief of Samburu West Sub County, says there's still tension, with bandits spotted in the area from time to time.

Bandits are still active in the area. It's the National Police Reservists (NPR) who are keeping them at bay but tension is still high in the region since they can decide to strike at any time," Lerno said.

On Friday, President William Ruto once again defended Kenya's commitment to deploy 1,000 police officers to Port-au-Prince as part of the U.N. Security Council-backed security mission to troubled Haiti.

Addressing the press alongside U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington D.C. on Thursday, Citizen TV's Ayub Abdikadir pressed Ruto to explain Kenya's decision to dispatch the officers to Haiti, a distance of 12,078 kilometres from Kenya, amidst ongoing banditry attacks in the North Rift region.

In response, Ruto highlighted that despite dispatching troops to Haiti, Kenya has remained steadfast in addressing the issue of banditry back home, adding that the government has deployed 3,000 military personnel and 2,000 police officers to the North Rift to combat and eliminate the banditry menace.

"I made a commitment to the people of Kenya to sort out insecurity in the North Rift. I have followed that with action. As we speak there are 3,000 military officers and 2,000 police officers in the North Rift," said Ruto.  

"We have also renovated 15 schools and reopened 20 schools that were closed. The exercise is still ongoing."

Ruto subsequently emphasised Kenya's role in enhancing security within its borders while affirming the country's broader responsibility to do the same beyond its borders.

"We have made tremendous progress in making sure that we create security at home but that does not take away our responsibility. Even as we deployed troops and police to sort out the banditry problem we still deployed 1,000 troops to DRC Congo because that is our neighbour," he said.

"We have deployed 5,000 troops in Somalia because that is equally our responsibility and Haiti should not be an exception. Deploying 1,000 troops to Haiti speaks of the same belief and commitment."