Costly trip: How a visit to Kenya sealed Haiti PM Ariel Henry's fate

As Prime Minister, Henry took power unelected which seemed to have exacerbated the perpetual unrest with gangs mushrooming across the nation, all seeking dominance and more influence.

Since then, gangs have been causing havoc in the nation with kidnapping cases rising and endless murders being reported.

Rights groups indicate that about 10 people are kidnapped every day in the capital as gangs depend on ransom money to sustain themselves.

As the gangs gained more dominance, a gang under the name G9 led by former police officer Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed Barbeque, took more prominence in protesting the illegality of the government in place.

Henry's premiership was still intact until when he embarked on a trip to Kenya on February 29, 2024, to seal a deal to launch a United Nations-backed multinational security force to fight gangs in Haiti. Kenya agreed to deploy 1,000 officers in the deal.

The move sparked more violence, with Barbeque calling for Henry's resignation, and that he stays away from the country.

He even threatened dire consequences if Henry did not step down or make any attempt to return to Haiti.

"If Ariel Henry does not step down the country will suffer a genocide. If the international community continues to support Henrythey will lead us directly into a civil war," he told media outlets.

In the Prime Minister's absence, the gangs released over 3,500 inmates from two main prisons on March 5, forcing Haiti's de facto government to issue a 72-hour state of emergency and impose nightly curfews.

The gangs then took control of Haiti's main airport denying Henry's entry into the country upon his return from Kenya. He was forced to land in San Juan, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

His plane was later diverted to the US territory of Puerto Rico where he has been domiciled since then.

Amid escalating conflict, Henry announced his resignation on March 11, 2024, technically leaving ruling power to the gangs.

Regional officials have been engaged in talks involving members of Haiti's political parties, private sector, civil society and religious groups aimed at establishing the transition council that would pave the way to the first elections since 2016.

Henry, who many Haitians consider corrupt, had repeatedly postponed elections saying security must first be restored.

In recent days, countries in the region have withdrawn embassy staff and advised their citizens to leave.

The U.N. estimates the conflict has driven some 300,000 from their homes and that gangs last year killed close to 5,000 people and kidnapped nearly 2,500 - sometimes using videos of rape and torture to extort costly ransoms from victims' friends and families.

As of late February, the U.N. said five nations had formally pledged troops, with less than Ksh.1.5 billion ($11 million) deposited into a fund.