More Kenyan police arrive in Haiti to help country tackle violent criminal gangs

A second group of Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti Tuesday morning, three weeks after the first contingent of 200 specialized cops were deployed to the troubled Caribbean nation to help its police take on criminal armed gangs, a police source confirmed to the Miami Herald.

The second wave is expected to bring the total number of Kenyan police in Haiti to 400, which is the number of cops initially vetted and prepped for the first phase of the United Nations-backed and largely U.S.-funded Multinational Security Support mission.

The deployment comes as Haiti experiences a respite in the violent chaos that erupted nearly five months ago when powerful gangs united in a bid to topple the government, and as Kenya grapples with its own social unrest. Weeks of deadly anti-government protests in the East African nation over a finance bill to boost government revenues has put the country’s police force under scrutiny and turned into calls for President William Ruto and his ministers to resign.

Hoping to stave off the growing protests, Ruto late last week dismissed most of his cabinet. On Saturday, his police chief, Japhet Koome, announced his resignation amid a wave of criticism that police had used excessive force against protesters. Human rights groups have also accused Kenyan police of illegally detaining protesters and abducting them.

Koome had been the face of Kenya’s security response to Haiti, welcoming a Haitian police delegation to Nairobi ahead of the first group of officers’ June 25 deployment to Port-au-Prince to lead the support mission. He assured his Haitian counterparts that “the National Police Commission remains committed to collaboration in the mission for the good of the people of Haiti, especially women and children.”

Ruto immediately accepted Koome’s resignation and appointed deputy police inspector Douglas Kanja as acting police chief. But Ruto’s own tenuous hold on power in one of Africa’s most stable democracies is closely being watched in Port-au-Prince, where Haitians are anxiously waiting to see what the Kenyans can do — and what Ruto’s political troubles mean for his commitment to provide 1,000 Kenyan police to lead the armed mission that is expected to consist of 2,500 security personnel from African and Caribbean nations.

Since arriving in the country, the first contingent of 200 officers have been seen on the streets engaging in a few joint patrols with Haiti National Police units, but they have not been visibly involved in major operations. For example, while Haitian authorities triumphantly announced last week they had taken back control of the country’s largest hospital from gangs, they offered no details about the operations and whether Kenyan cops were involved. Neither police nor recently installed Prime Minister Garry Conille have provided details on what operations, if any, the Kenyans have been involved in.

Meanwhile, despite Conille’s declarations about taking back the country “neighborhood by neighborhood,” gangs continue to wreak havoc in Port-au-Prince, although not at the same level as the coordinated attacks that began on Feb. 29.

On Tuesday, Bertide Horace, a resident in Haiti’s gang-ridden Artibonite area, appealed for help from the authorities, saying that massacres are taking place almost daily. “We are in a situation of civil war,” she said.

Last week, as newly appointed Haitian Police Chief Rameau Normil declared success over taking the hospital back and a crackdown on armed groups, members of the 400 Mawozo gang placed containers on National Road No. 8 in the suburb of Croix-des-Bouquets to block passage of vehicles. Gang members had set fire to city hall the day after the Kenyans arrived.

Kidnappings for ransom, which had seen a drop during the gangs’ recent reign in Port-au-Prince, also have appear to be back.

In March, as gangs targeted key government infrastructure, the country’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, was forced to resign. Shortly after, the Caribbean Community, with aid from the United States, brokered a transition in Haiti with some of the country’s political and civic leaders. A nine-member transitional presidential council was tasked with finding a replacement for Henry, and together with Conille, whom they eventually chose, the new government was to prepare Haiti for the arrival of the force and eventual elections.

Kenya has agreed to deploy a total of 1,000 police officers and has said the mission will cost $600 million a year. Though the Biden administration has estimated the cost to be less, the U.S. remains the largest donor, contributing more than $300 million to the operation. U.S. officials have said that while funding remains an issue, there is enough money to support the 400 officers deployed so far. There are also 250 vetted security personnel from Jamaica who are waiting to join the mission in Haiti. Jamaica is the lead nation for Caribbean Community countries in the mission.

The U.N. Security Council, which approved the armed mission in October, said the new developments in Haiti are helping to forge a path forward, and last week reiterated calls for Haitians to continue with inclusive dialogue and agree on a road map for holding long overdue general elections, which last took place in 2016. Council members also stressed the importance of the coordination between the multinational mission and the U.N. political office in Haiti, which had its mandate last week unanimously renewed for a year by the council.

“The renewal of the mandate in and of itself will not be enough to help the government face the security and humanitarian challenges that Haiti is experiencing,” Antonio Rodrigue, the country’s representative to the United Nations, said. “We need to bring together synergies and find new innovative ideas to respond to the complexity of the situation.”

The arrival of the initial contingent of the Kenyan police, he added, will help support Haitian police efforts to fight the heavily armed gangs and this has given rise to hope among Haitians that they will see an end to the violence.

Rodrigue asked nations that had promised to support the 2,500-member mission to make good on their pledges.