Rachel Ruto sets up committee to pray for Kenyan police heading to Haiti

First Lady Rachel Ruto has announced plans to establish a prayer committee for Kenyan police officers slated for deployment on the UN Security Council-backed mission to troubled Haiti.

Speaking at the Weston Hotel in Nairobi on Friday, during the listening party of the ‘Fourth Man’ EP by 1005 Songs & More Gospel music group, Rachel  noted that she had held discussions with members of the clergy in regards to Kenya's impending deployment of troops to the Caribbean nation.

According to the First Lady, spiritual intervention is essential in ensuring the safety and well-being of the Kenyan officers and the people of Haiti.

"I have been held up in a meeting with some clergy friends of mine for two days discussing the issues of Haiti because we felt as the national alter that we cannot allow our police to go to Haiti without prayer So they have been strategising on a spiritual solution for our police and people of Haiti," she said.

"We had pastors from Haiti and America and we are seeing how these three countries can come together to pray because we believe that with prayer everything is possible."

On Friday, former U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Dan Foote voiced scepticism over Kenya's plan to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti, highlighting that the number of troops falls short of what is required to liberate the Caribbean nation from marauding gangs.

In an interview with CNN, Foote pointed out that every time there has been a military intervention in Haiti, at least 20,000 troops have been deployed to Port-au-Prince, adding that none of these missions achieved success.

The former envoy additionally suggested that Kenya's motivation to lead the security mission is largely spurred byfinancial incentives from the UN Security Council and not genuine peacekeeping efforts.

"I believe that this is more of a cash grab by President Ruto whose country will receive a lot of money for doing this," he said.

The US government initially pledged $100 million (Ksh.13 billion) to support the Kenyan-led multinational force to restore security to Haiti, further urging other nations to make similar contributions.