Kenyan police officers may deploy to Haiti Tuesday, reports say

Nairobi, Kenya — Kenyan police officers may be set for deployment to Haiti on Tuesday, according to local reports and the French news agency, AFP. Multiple inquiries to the government of Kenya for confirmation of such reports were not answered. This development comes after numerous delays and court challenges, including the newest lawsuit that accused Kenyan President William Ruto of contempt of court.


Last year, a United Nations Security Council resolution approved the Kenyan-led mission, but earlier this year the High Court of Kenya ruled against the deployment, saying it was unconstitutional. Issues cited by the court include the lack of a "reciprocal agreement" between the countries.


The Kenyan government eventually secured that agreement but the same people who sued the government in the first place filed another lawsuit seeking to block the deployment.


From a legal perspective, the legitimacy of the agreement is still in question, lawyer Wallace Nderu told VOA.


"The ground for this application is that when the then-prime minister of Haiti was signing this agreement with Kenya, there was no known government in Haiti. The president had been assassinated; there were no elected leaders in Haiti. So where does he drive the mandate to negotiate an agreement on behalf of his country Haiti comes into question," said Nderu, a lawyer and a program officer at ICJ Kenya, the International Commission of Jurists, a non-governmental, non-profit, member-based organization.


Nderu also said Kenyans feel the agreement was hastily put together, noting its content has not been shared with the population.


"Part of the provisions in the law … indicates that these agreements, after being signed, have to be gazetted in the official Kenya Gazette,” Nderu said. “So, concern is raised that this particular agreement is very secretive. We are not aware of the content of the agreement … it raises the legitimacy of the government deploying the police to Haiti."


The Kenya Gazette is an official government publication that contains legal notices, government appointments, and other official announcements.


A new commander for the police force was appointed Monday by the inspector general.


President Ruto has maintained that stabilizing the troubled Caribbean nation is "a mission for humanity … a mission for solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Haiti."


In addition to Kenya, other nations including Benin, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados and Chad said they will join the mission.


While some Kenyans support the mission in Haiti, others have wondered why their country wants to lead the multinational force, given that nations more powerful and better equipped have not been willing to step forward.


The reported deployment will take place on the same day that protests against proposed tax increases that have rocked Kenya in the past week are to resume.