Haiti on Sunday declared a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew to quell a wave of violence sparked by a gang assault on the national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince prison that allowed thousands of inmates to escape.
In a statement, the government said the state of emergency and 6:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew would be effective from Sunday to Wednesday, March 6.
Both measures would apply to the Ouest region, including the capital, Port-au-Prince, and would be subject to renewal.
Further, the Haitian government said the objective of the measures would be to allow it to "re-establish order and take the appropriate measures to take back control of the situation."
This comes a few days after Kenya signed an agreement with Haiti to deploy 1,000 police officers to Haiti.
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The agreement was signed by security ministers from the two countries in the presence of President William Ruto and Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
“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.
The High Court ruled that under Kenyan laws, the government can only deploy police officers to another country if a reciprocal agreement exists with the host nation in January.
However, President Ruto later announced that his government would adhere to the court order and appeal as it works to put the reciprocal agreement in place.
The UN Security Council backed Kenya’s offer to lead the force, and Kenyan lawmakers approved the deployment.
