Kenyan police advance team arrives in Haiti. First security force on its way

A small advance team from Kenya was in Port-au-Prince on Monday to prepare for the long-awaited arrival of the first contingent of elite police officers from the East African nation to help Haiti combat criminal armed gangs as part of an armed international force.

The Kenyans departed Nairobi Monday evening and could arrive in Port-au-Prince as soon as Tuesday, multiple sources told the Miami Herald. But they warned that the timing could change given security concerns in the troubled country.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed that the first contingent of the Multinational Security Support mission is expected to arrive sometime this week.

“This is just the first of several milestones in the process to restore security and prosperity in Haiti,” Miller said during a daily press briefing in Washington on Monday. “With the arrival of MSS mission personnel, we hope to see further measurable improvements in security, particularly with respect to access to humanitarian aid and core economic activity. This will help create the security conditions conducive for future, free and fair elections.”

Haiti hasn’t had general elections since 2016, and nearly half of the country is facing hunger as a result of the ongoing gang violence which has uprooted nearly 580,000 Haitians over the last three years, according to the United Nations.

In a post on X, showing the Kenyans on the aircraft, Raymond Omollo, a senior interior ministry official, wished the first contingent to Haiti “safety and success.” He then provided photos of the police in camouflage and white helmets, and him later greeting them as they sat on an aircraft.

Earlier in the day, Kenyan President William Ruto was assured by police brass that the officers are ready and properly prepared.

“These officers will make a difference in the Haitian police and in the life of the Haitian communities, and they will make difference and make us proud once they are deployed in those areas,” Deputy Police Inspector General Noor Gabow told Ruto during his visit with the officers at a police training college.

Gabow, in a video released by the presidency, noted that the officers, who will be bringing their own weapons to Port-au-Prince, have been properly outfitted for the mission. They have, Gabow said, been provided with individual first aid kits, armor and are wearing “one of the best shoes” and can cover long distances.

The close-door event was a pre-deployment exercise with 400 of the 1,000 police officers who have been vetted by the United States to field the Multinational Security Support mission. During the event, Ruto handed out Kenyan flags. He later took to the social media site X to tout his country’s peacekeeping track record and commitment to Haiti.

“Kenya has solid credentials in peace-making and conflict resolution globally,” Ruto said, sharing photos from the closed-door event. “Our police officers’ presence in Haiti will give relief to the men, women and children whose lives have been broken by gang violence. We will work with the international community to bring lasting stability in Haiti.”

The U.S., which is the largest contributor of the United Nations-backed security mission after providing more than $300 million for equipment, training and a base for operation near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, and Kenya have both kept a veil of secrecy around the mission. They have refrained from discussing how it will operate as well as its exact deployment timeline or the size of the first contingent, which has ranged from between 200 and 400 individuals.

Two media outlets reported over the weekend about the pending arrival of the Kenyan force, raising concerns of a potential retaliation before the international force has a chance to get a foothold in the capital.

The Kenyan contingent consists of specialized police officers from several elite units including those involved in the fight against the extremist group al-Shabab, which has been carrying out terrorist attacks on Kenyan soil since 2011. Other personnel fielding the first-of-its kind mission, which Kenya volunteered in July 2022 to lead, , will come from six other countries including Jamaica, which is leading the Caribbean contingent, Benin and Bangladesh.

At full strength, the mission is expected to have 2,500 security personnel although that number could be more or less due to the mission’s ongoing funding constraints. A trust fund supported by the United Nations has so far amassed only $21 million.

Delays in deployment

A lack of funding has been among several factors that have contributed to the mission’s repeated delays ever since it was first approved by the U.N. Security Council nearly nine months ago. The mission has also been hobbled by a series of legal challenges in Nairobi where it is strongly criticized, a Republican block in Washington and the change in leadership in Haiti. After Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to resign after gangs led an insurgency against his government following his signing of a security agreement in late February with Kenya for the mission to deploy, Ruto announced a pause in the deployment.

He has decided to go ahead with the deployment despite another court challenge by an opposition group seeking to stop the government from sending cops to Haiti, and street protests by his nation’s youth over a slew of new taxes.

During a three-day State visit to the United States last month, Ruto said he believes in the deployment “because the women and children in Haiti deserve peace like all other women and children and people around the world.” Ahead of Ruto’s state dinner with President Biden, the White House announced that he would designate Kenya as a major non-NATO ally, making it the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to hold the designation. On Monday, the White House released a statement, announcing the official designation.

During closed door discussions at the United Nations Security Council on Friday, U.S. and Kenyan officials would only say that deployment was “imminent.” The meeting was requested by the U.S. and Ecuador, which co-wrote resolution 2699 authorizing the mission after the Kenya government said it needed clearance from the council to assist Haiti.

While backed by the Security Council, the mission is not a traditional U.N. peacekeeping force, which has left the Biden administration to seek voluntary contributions from countries. Last week after months of a Republican hold on its State Department funding, Secretary of State Antony Blinken went ahead and authorized $109 million to fund the mission, overriding the block.

Congressional critics

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, who is among two senior Republicans who blocked the funds after expressing skepticism over the mission, criticized the override in a statement. Risch, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the mission “ill-conceived.”

“I have very clearly expressed my serious and specific concerns about this mission since last September,” said Risch, who was joined in the block by Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “My concerns exist in part because of the long history of failed international interventions in Haiti which have wasted billions of dollars and left the Haitian people worse off,” he said in a statement in response to the override.”

Risch said he tried to engage “in a real dialogue” with the administration to improve the mission’s planning process and lay out clear rules of engagement and metrics for success.

“Unfortunately, the administration made it very clear it could not provide any substantive metrics or goals. Despite this fact, it has decided to move forward with funding a mission where the length, objectives, and cost remain unclear. Right now, the U.S. taxpayer will shoulder the overwhelming majority of this burden,” he said.

State Department officials say they are still interested in working with Congress and note that they have given more than 50 congressional briefings to staff.

The Security Council first approved the mission back in October 2023, exactly a year after Henry requested help from the international community for Haiti’s national police. At the time of Henry’s request, armed gangs blocked access in and out of the country’s main fuel terminal, Varreux, in Port-au-Prince and triggered a humanitarian crisis that has only worsened.

Gangs rise in power

In the more than 20 months since the request, gangs have become even more powerful, and plunged Haiti into an even deeper crisis. After Haiti and Kenya signed the security agreement, gangs in Port-au-Prince united and launched an armed insurgency against the government. They killed police officers, burned hospitals and schools and released more than 4,000 inmates from the country’s two largest prisons while demanding Henry’s resignation.

After the U.S. forced Henry to resign, the Biden administration along with the Caribbean Community help Haiti’s political and civic leaders to broker a new political transition with a nine member presidential council. The council was tasked with finding a replacement for Henry, who with his new cabinet and the council would ready the country for the arrival of the mission.

In recent days, newly selected prime minister, Garry Conille, has ousted the head of the Haiti National Police and tapped a previously fired chief, Rameau Normil, to head the agency. Over the weekend, Conille and council members spent two days in a retreat to prioritize the government’s program.

In another development, Haiti and the Organization of American States on Friday also signed a Status of Force Agreement. The document is one of several documents the Security Council has requested ahead of deployment. As part of the Status of Force Agreement, obtained by the Herald, members of the mission will enjoy immunity from prosecution in Haiti and if the Haitian government deems they have committed a criminal offense, they will be subjected to the jurisdiction of their respective country.

McClatchy Senior White House Correspondent Michael Wilner contributed to this report.