First Batch of Deployed Kenyan Troops Arrive in Haiti

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – Prime Minister Garry Conille has welcomed the arrival of the first batch of soldiers from Kenya on Tuesday, saluting ”the determination of the Kenyan government and its people to support Haiti in the fight against insecurity that is corroding the society.

Kenyan troops arrive in Haiti on Tuesay“The government and the Haitian people want this multinational mission to be the last one that helps it stabilize for the renewal of political personnel and the return to effective democracy. Long live solidarity between peoples! Long live Haiti !,” Prime Minister Conille said.

The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti in a brief statement welcoming the Kenyans’ arrival said ‘it is a crucial step in the fight to restore security in the Haitian capital and its surroundings and protect the rights of Haitians”.

Earlier, President William Rute told an estimated 400 Kenyan troops who left Nairobi for their deployment that the mission is “one of the most urgent, important and historic in the history of global solidarity”.

Kenya is spearheading the United Nations Security Council sanctioned Multi-national Support Mission to the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country that has been wracked with political, socio-economic problems, highlighted by criminal violence ever since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021.

Speaking at a ceremony on Monday, where he wished luck to the 400 officers, President Ruto also handed them a Kenyan national flag.

“Your presence in Haiti will bring hope and relief to communities torn apart by violence and ravaged by disorder,” he said, adding that the rest of the force will join their colleagues “soon”.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Ruto said “Kenya has solid credentials in peace-making and conflict resolution globally.

“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.”

Kenya has offered to send about 1,000 troops to stabilise Haiti alongside personnel from several other countries, including The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize and Jamaica.

The spokesperson for the opposition Democratic and Popular Sector (SDP), André Michel,said he was calling “on the political authorities to reject any dialogue with gang leaders”.

He urged them not to grant amnesty to the gangs “who have kidnapped, raped, murdered and impoverished thousands of families”.

The United Nations has said that more than 2,500 people were killed or injured in the first three months of the year in Haiti and that the spike in violence has displaced more than half a million people.

Gangs now control at least 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince and key roads. Trapped outside the country as the international airport was closed, former prime minister Ariel Henry was forced to resign.

US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters “we  hope to see further measurable improvements in security, particularly with respect to access to humanitarian aid and core economic activity”.

The Kenyans’ arrival marks the fourth major foreign military intervention in the CARICOM country and while some Haitians welcome their arrival, others view the force with caution, given that the previous intervention — the U.N.’s 2004-2017 peacekeeping mission — was marred by allegations of sexual assault and the introduction of cholera , which killed nearly 10,000 people.

Prime Minister Conille, who was sworn into office on June 12 and has already named members of his new cabinet, said that the priority for his administration would also be a crackdown on corruption.

“The fight against corruption will be an absolute priority of my government,” Conille said, promising also regular audits of public resources.

“My government will work without rest to improve the conditions of each and every Haitian,” he said, telling the ceremony that “without security, no sustainable progress can be achieved”.