Death of Kenyan officer in Haiti raises questions on accountability

The theater of operations of any army or police in Haiti is dangerous owing to gang violence and lawlessness. The Kenya contingent set forth with a noble task of restoring order, but along the way, things became treacherous for them.

The loss is not just for the officer's family but also for the nation: behind the uniform was a real human being, a father or mother, son or daughter, brother or sister, or friend who went forth in the call of duty with courage and commitment.

The death of the officer reminds us of the cost of peacekeeping, which more often than not is measured in human lives.

A cost that must never be taken for granted; hence, demands for maximum accountability from the government along the entire decision-making chain.

Sending Kenyan officers to Haiti was indeed an act of valor that placed the country on the platform for world peace and numerous other missions.

However, it does put a dent in the rationale that valorous endeavors ought to always be backed up by serious mission preparations and awareness of every ground detail, ensuring the safety of personnel in that mission.

The burning question left for the government is: what has been done to guarantee the safety of our officers in such an unrest-ridden setting?

Were they supplied with enough tools, training, and intelligence, not to get trapped in the web of hazards termed Haiti?

Those questions indeed are not mere rhetorical ones: they form a basis from which our government must be held accountable and require urgent answers.

The government owes it to that officer, the grieving family, and a grieving nation real answers of what went wrong.

There are no such cheerless platitudes here. It is time to show the nation that it cares for its people by revealing what the risks were for this mission and what it did to secure the health and safety of those currently in the field. Sending officers into a war zone means that once all is decided, every follow-up action must be geared toward ensuring their utmost safety and everything else that follows.

Accountability must stretch not only to these current circumstances but due course to any changes made to how those decisions are reached and resources allocated.

The government must assert itself to translate into actions in the operational realm with enough political will. This will translate into provision of protective gear without delay; installation of sound communication system; recognition of contingency plans; addressing the complaints raised by the officers themselves, and taking action on those suggestions to ameliorate the field conditions. 

The demise of a Kenyan officer in Haiti is not a mere coincidence; an uproar of conscience. It is the very rendering of a decision in the retreats that translates into a glaring reminder of its effect, sometimes sad, on those in service. The moment of reckoning for accountability must dawn on the government if it wants to stand in honor of learning from this loss. This is not the time to sidestep difficult conversations or navigate away from obligations. This is time to grapple with the burden of leadership and the mandate to protect those who protect us. 

A mirror-faced hour has come for Kenya as a nation to reflect on this incident and what this means to her plans of involvement in international peacekeeping activities. Our desire to contribute to global stability is laudable, but it cannot be achieved at the cost of the lives of our men and women in uniform. The government must scrutinize each of such missions very seriously as regards their risk versus benefits.

It must, in every single instance, guarantee unreserved commitment to the protection and dignity of its officers.