President William Ruto disclosed on Wednesday, March 14 that Kenya’s mission to Haiti was still on course in a phone call with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
The Head of State noted that Kenya would take leadership of the UN Security Support Mission in Haiti to restore peace and security in Haiti.
“Had a telephone conversation with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the developments in Haiti. He briefed me on the decision of the Summit of Caribbean Countries (Caricom) and the US, together with other partners, on the political situation in Haiti,” Ruto stated.
The President added, “He informed me that a new Presidential Council will be formed shortly to manage the situation in Haiti. I assured Secretary Blinken that Kenya will take leadership of the UN Security Support Mission in Haiti to restore peace and security in Haiti as soon as the Presidential Council is in place under an agreed process.”
This comes days after Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei revealed that Kenya would have to wait longer before deploying police officers for the Peace Keeping Mission to Haiti due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Kenya and Haiti on March 1 signed an agreement formalizing the deployment of 1,000 police officers to the North American nation.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki signed the agreement with his Haitian counterpart at State House Nairobi.
“I am pleased to inform you that Prime Minister Ariel Henri and I have witnessed the signing of this instrument. We have also discussed the next steps to enable the fast-tracking of the deployment,” Ruto said in a statement.
The High Court on January 26 blocked the deployment of Kenyan officers to Haiti saying the National Security Council lacked authority to deploy police officers outside the country.
Justice Chacha Mwita in his ruling also pointed out that Kenya does not have an arrangement with Haiti for police officers to be deployed.
CS Kindiki on Monday announced that the Haiti peace Mission is in the pre-redeployment phase.
He noted that all frameworks including the law of detention, arrest, and standard operation procedures have been finalized.
Source-https://www.nairobileo.co.ke/
