The Military in the United States of America (US) is currently setting up a barrack in Haiti where Kenyan police officers who will be deployed to the country will be operating from.
The operation, which the US Southern Command is coordinating, saw several civilian contractors being deployed to Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince to put up base.
In a statement, the Southern Command in the US said the civilians will be working alongside officials at Haiti’s main airport located within the Capital City of Haiti to ensure they achieve their mission.
“These personnel will be working alongside Haitian airport officials to secure the equipment and supplies that have arrived in Haiti,” the Southern Command said.
According to the statement, there was continuous support from various people in Haiti who ensured that the airport was open despite gangs causing chaos across the country.
Until March 2024 when former Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned from the position following a series of chaos that were being witnessed in the Caribbean-based country, plans of deploying a multinational security force were underway.
It is worth noting that Mr Henry had visited Kenya to discuss the same and how officers would be deployed to his home country but it became hard for him to go back home.
This is after ruthless gangs stormed the city and set free prisoners from the main prisons in the country. The gangs also threatened to harm the political leader.
Kenya has remained silent on its plans to send police officers to Haiti as no government senior official is willing to speak anything on the same. However, President William Ruto has in the past maintained that plans to send police officers there were on.
Currently, nine individuals who have been tasked with ensuring that it forms the next Haitian Government are in charge of the country.
Since they took oath of office on April 25, 2024, they are yet to mention plans to have Kenyan officers deployed to their country.
Instead, they are busy trying to figure out how the next government will take office and this has led to differences amongst them.
The nine include seven who have powers to vote and two who do not enjoy the voting privilege. They include; former central bank governor Fritz Alphonse Jean, former ambassador to the Dominican Republic Smith Augustin, barrister Emmanuel Vertilaire, former senate president Edgard Leblanc, ex-senator Louis Gerald Gilles, businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr and Leslie Voltaire, a former diplomat.
The non-voting observers are evangelical pastor Frinel Joseph and Regine Abraham, who once worked for the World Bank and the country’s environment ministry respectively.
It is worth noting that gang leaders in Haiti plus officials of various activism groups are opposed to the deployment of Kenyan officers to the country.
