We're sending police to Haiti because they asked us for support - CS Mutua

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua on Tuesday said Kenya is sending a police mission to Haiti because the Caribbean country appealed for help, contrary to speculation that it is because of influence by global powers.

Mutua told a press conference in Nairobi that Kenya is one of the most sought-after nations for peacekeeping missions, having previously sent troops to Namibia, Sierra Leone, East Timor, South Sudan, Somalia and the DRC.

“It is because of Kenya’s stellar performance that the Government of Haiti requested Kenya to lead a police mission to help stabilise and bring order to their country,” the minister said.

“We assure the people of Haiti that we feel your pain. When you cry out, we feel it and when your children suffer. Your pain is our pain. We shall stand with you at this difficult time and walk the journey towards peace together because you deserve to live a secure and prosperous life.”

Kenya has offered to send 1,000 security personnel to Haiti where armed gangs have seized control of large tracks of land following intersecting public health, political and economic crises.

The Western Hemisphere's poorest country has been plunged into chaos since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 at his private residence in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

United Nations figures show that more than 2,400 people have died in violence there since the start of the year.

There have been calls for an international force to intervene, and earlier this month the United States said up to a dozen countries had offered support while pledging its own logistical assistance.

In addition to Kenya, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Antigua have also expressed willingness to participate.

“Kenya has committed to supporting our brothers and Sisters in Haiti, who originally came from our continent. Indeed, we have many similarities and a common heritage,” Mutua said on Tuesday.

Mutua said ten other countries were on board with the mission and that Kenya was working with other partners to get a United Nations mandate.

“We are currently working with other partners to get a United Nations mandate and resolution. We will thereafter hold meetings to garner support for the necessary deployment. Already ten other nations have indicated their willingness to send troops and or finance the mission,” said the CS.

He noted that the government was seeking to send police officers to Haiti in the coming months, although he did not specify when.

“We expect that within a few months, we will be in Haiti helping our brothers and sisters,” Mutua said.