Kenya in final stages of deploying officers to Haiti - PS Korir Sing'oei

Addressing the press on Sunday, Sing'oei noted that the UN-backed keeping mission is still on course and Kenya being the head of the multinational security force will see its officers off in the coming weeks.

He added that Kenya has been in "preparatory mode" and will be honoring a reciprocal agreement signed between the two nations which provides guidelines on how the deployment will be effected. 

"The government is in the process of finalizing preparation to deploy. I can tell you for sure that that deployment will happen in the next few weeks," he said.

He further dismissed claims that President William Ruto might visit the war-torn nation given that he will be embarking on a 4-day state visit to the United States from May 20.

A Haitian source had told AFP in early May that a first contingent of 200 Kenyan police, out of the pledged 1,000, was expected by May 23 when Ruto will meet President Joe Biden.

The Kenyan government has not publicly commented on the date, but an interior ministry source told AFP they could arrive by next Tuesday.

This comes as the Thirdway Alliance Kenya led by Dr Ekuru Aukot has filed a new lawsuit seeking to prevent the government from sending police to a violence-plagued country.

In their complaint, Dr Aukot and Miruru Waweru argued that the government had "blatantly disregarded" a January court order prohibiting the deployment as unconstitutional and illegal.

The lawsuit said that its petitioners were "reliably informed" that the Kenyan deployment may take place no later than May 23, "hence the urgency of this application".

Kenya had announced in March that it was putting its deployment on hold until a transitional council was installed in Haiti, after Haiti's then-prime minister Ariel Henry quit as the crisis grew even more violent.

The council was sworn in late last month and is due to lead the country until fresh polls, with an elected government to take over by February 6 next year.

Aside from Kenya, other countries who have voiced willingness to join the mission agreed under a UN resolution in October last year include Benin, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados and Chad.