The Deputy National Security Advisor Joseph Boinnet, Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police Gilbert Masengeli and the commandant of General Service Unit Ranson Lolmodooni accompanied the 217 fresh police officers sent to Haiti.
The security bosses delivered a message from Kenya to Haitian authorities after landing in Port-au-Prince.
The team includes 30 female police officers who arrived in Port-au-Prince on Saturday aboard a chartered airplane escorted by the U.S. military.
This came after months of uncertainty about whether Kenya would continue to field cops for the struggling mission in Haiti, where gang violence last year reached record levels.
After disembarking, the Kenyans, as customary, danced and chanted on the runway while carrying their rifles. Others carried a Haitian flag.
The contingent was warmly received at the airport by a distinguished delegation, including Presidential Advisor Fritz Alphonse Jean, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, Minister of Justice and Public Security Patrick Pélissier, Secretary of State for Public Security Mario Andrésol, Haitian Police Director General Normil Rameau, Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) Force Commander Godfrey Otunge, U.S. Ambassador Dennis B.
Hankins, and Canadian Ambassador André François Giroux.
The new group included at least 30 female cops and is among 600 trained and U.S.-vetted cops from various units of Kenya’s National Police Service.
They have been trained to handle female suspects and stage patrols professionally, officials said.
Boinnet expressed gratitude to the Haitian government for its close bilateral relations with Kenya, emphasizing Kenya’s commitment to fostering peace and helping Haiti regain its former glory.
He announced plans to open a Kenyan consulate in Haiti to strengthen these ties.
Masengeli, delivering a speech on behalf of Kenya’s Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, commended the officers for their outstanding efforts despite the challenges they face.
He reminded the personnel of the need to uphold the highest standards of conduct, including zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, avoiding misconduct, and refraining from working under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
President Wiliam Ruto had promised in September 2024 to deploy to Haiti before the end of the year.
But the effort was stalled after Democrats lost the U.S. presidential election in November and Haiti’s ruling council days later replaced the prime minister after less than six months.
Both moves created uncertainty for Ruto, who had also expressed worries about the mission’s lack of resources, including funding and equipment, as it struggled to help Haitian police take down armed gangs.
Ruto’s uncertainties about the mission’s fate seems to have been put to rest, at last for now, following last week’s comments from President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio lauded Kenya for its leadership of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti, and signaled continued U.S. support.
Rubio’s comments were immediately noticed and on Saturday at 2 a.m.
Kenya time, officials from both the interior and foreign affairs ministries waved the new contingent off as they boarded a Kenya Airways aircraft from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
The plane landed in Port-au-Prince shortly after 11 a.m in Haiti escorted by U.S. military.
In November, three U.S. jetliners flying over Port-au-Prince’s airspace were hit by gunfire, fueling concerns about the safety of the capital’s skies.
The 217 Kenyan cops will join 400 of their compatriots already in Port-au-Prince.
Their presence boosts the total number of foreign security personnel to just under 800.
There are currently police and military officers from Jamaica, along with soldiers from The Bahamas, Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador.
The Biden administration, which had been pushing Kenya to deploy its remaining officers, had hoped to bring the mission’s strength up to 1,000 officers before it leaves office on Monday.
But even 1,000 security personnel or the mission’s targeted goal of 2,500 is insufficient, security experts say.
Last year, Haiti saw a record number of neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas fall to armed gangs, despite the presence of foreign forces and a new U.S.-backed transition government.
As the gangs took over neighborhoods and carried out some of the worst massacres in recent memory, they also deepened the country’s humanitarian crisis as tens of thousands more Haitians were forced to flee their homes.
The United Nations said more than 5,600 people were killed by gang violence last year, an increase over the previous two years, and over 1 million Haitians are now displaced.
After repeated delays, including a court battle in Nairobi and congressional Republican opposition in Washington, cops began deploying in June 2024.
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