The initial group of police officers destined for deployment in Haiti departed from Kenya on Saturday night. According to officials, this advance team, referred to by insiders as a reconnaissance and preparation unit, is set to gather in Miami, USA, before continuing to their final destination of Port-au-Prince.
Witnesses and insiders said a team of about “10 had left and would be joined by more others in coming days”.
In Haiti, they will conduct a series of meetings and lay the groundwork for the arrival of the larger contingent. On Sunday, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Singoei announced that Kenya will deploy the police to Haiti within a few days.
“I can tell you for sure that deployment will happen in few days or few weeks but there is no chance at all for President Ruto to go down to Port au Prince as has been alleged,” he said.
Officials stated that the team that departed Kenya on Saturday will pave the way for the deployment of approximately 200 police officers in the coming days.
The plan is for the team to be in Haiti as President Ruto arrives in the USA.
President Ruto departed for the USA on Sunday night, May 19, for a weeklong trip.
The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host President Ruto and First Lady Rachael Ruto for a state visit on May 23, celebrating the 60th anniversary of U.S.-Kenya diplomatic relations.
Police commanders led the initial team that departed Nairobi in a highly secretive operation and included commandos.
This came amid reports civilian contractors have prepared for the arrival of Kenyan forces, whose deployment is currently in the works.
The barracks to be used by the Kenyan team have already been constructed.
Apart from Kenya, other countries that will send officers to Haiti are; Chile, Jamaica, Grenada, Paraguay, Burundi, Chad, Nigeria and Mauritius.
Kenya which will lead the team to combat the gangs plans to deploy more than 1,000 officers to Haiti to help in the mission.
The teams are from the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU), Anti Stock Theft Unit (ASTU), General Service Unit (GSU), and Border Patrol Unit (BPU).
This is a combat-trained team that officials say can handle the situation on the ground professionally.
They have undertaken training in various areas including language.
Officials said they will be allowed to among others use the AK47 rifles for their operations.
This is because the weapons are their primary tool of training and operation.
“You don’t expect them to use other weapons that they have not handled in the past,” said an official aware of the plans.
This came as some activists rushed to try to stop the planned deployment.
For instance, the Law Society of Kenya issued a statement Sunday arguing the Court held that sections 107, 108 & 109 of the National Police Service Act must be complied with before any deployment is sanctioned.
“The provisions demand that Haiti must be gazetted as a reciprocating country and that its municipal law has provisions similar to our National Police Service Act. It has come to our attention that despite the court orders, the government has sanctioned the deployment,” LSK president Faith Odhiambo said.
“While it is reported that the CS Interior and the former Haitian Prime Minister executed a bilateral treaty purportedly authorizing the intended deployment of Kenyan Police officers, the Law Society of Kenya is compelled, in defence of the rule of law, to point out that the legal requirements, as interpreted by Justice C. Mwita have not been met.”
She argued any move to deploy police officers to Haiti is unconstitutional and illegal.
A top Biden official had earlier confirmed to the Miami Herald of the developments in Haiti.
Todd D. Robinson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, told the Miami Herald an initial deployment of Kenyan police officers is being planned to coincide with the arrival of Ruto in Washington later this month.
"The initial deployment will happen sometime around his State visit," said Robinson, declining to give an exact date or the number of officers who will be deployed as part of the long-awaited Multinational Security Support mission.
Ruto said the country is ready to deploy police to the Caribbean country to contain gangs controlling much of it.
On May 3, a day after U.S. helicopters were seen flying through Port-au-Prince's dark skies, the U.S. Southern Command landed another aircraft at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, the media house reported.
The plane transported civilian contractors who will be providing support to the Pentagon to build out the area where the Kenyan support mission is supposed to be staying while in Haiti.
The Pentagon, which has pledged $200 million to assist in the mission, is responsible for making a base ready for the forces. Congressional aides have said that requires 45 days.
Ruto first pledged 1,000 police officers in July 2023 to lead an international force to assist Haiti's national police, pending his government's security assessment and a mandate from the U.N. Security Council, which was given in October.
Since then, however, the initiative has faced one obstacle after another, from court challenges and judicial blocks in Nairobi to funding holds in Congress to the March 11 forced resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Though the court challenges appear to have been cleared, the initiative still lacks the proper funding.
Republican lawmakers in Congress have ignored a request by the State Department to release $40 million of the $100 million it has pledged to support the mission.
Amid the delay, thousands of Haitians have either lost their lives or been injured, and Haiti teeters on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe as millions of people are unable to find enough food to eat.
The U.N., which has joined the U.S. in calling for assistance for the multinational force and humanitarian response, has said that the Kenyan-led mission needs to be deployed quickly.
Robinson said while there is currently enough money to pay for Kenya's personnel expenses and the initial deployment, more money is needed.
Haiti's transitional ruling council, tasked with guiding the Caribbean nation after the prime minister's resignation amidst escalating gang violence, appointed politician Edgard Leblanc Fils as its leader on April 30.
The announcement of this decision occurred during a ceremony held in the capital, Port-au-Prince, following the recent inauguration of the much-anticipated council. This development signifies progress toward reinstating effective governance.
Leblanc Fils, a former Senate president, will have a coordinating role within the nine-member governing body as it attempts to restore a semblance of order.
The new council came to power as the unpopular and unelected prime minister Ariel Henry submitted his formal resignation.
Henry pledged in March to resign once a council was established following pressure from armed gangs seeking his removal.
Among the council's initial responsibilities will be the selection of a new prime minister.
Haiti lacks a functional parliament and has been without a president since the assassination of Jovenel Moise in 2021. The last elections took place in 2016.
The transitional body is slated to govern the nation until new elections are held, paving the way for an elected government to assume power by February 6, 2026.
