Foreign affairs expert Prof. Macharia Munene has questioned the need for sending Kenyan police officers to Haiti, a nation beset by roving gangs and widespread criminality when nearly similar issues occur at home.
Participating in a panel discussion on "Tonight" with Sam Gituku on Thursday, Mr. Munene immediately declared that the legitimacy of the Haitian administration is in doubt, adding to the Kenyan government's worries about whom it is interacting with.
"The legitimacy of a government is key to its foreign relations," Prof. Munene said.
"Right now, the legitimacy of the government in Haiti is questionable; it is an issue."
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Munene countered that Kenya had already been portrayed negatively during the deployment drama, with Haitians seeming irritated by Kenya's readiness to assist in fighting crime despite its issues.
The specialist in foreign affairs argues that allegations that the US government pledged to pay almost USD 100 million for the mission have made Kenya look like a puppet of the West and worsened the diplomatic crisis.
"The Haitians, from what I am gathering, are not amused by Kenya volunteering when it has its own problems," Prof Munene added.
"The image created is that since the US promised to give about 100 million dollars and then Kenya jumped into it, was not a very good picture. Kenya is not ready for this kind of thing despite the claims."
Munene also questioned Kenyan police officers' ability to combat crime levels in Haiti, saying, "It is not always true that our police are doing a good job at home to be able to go and do something else somewhere else."
He asserted that Kenyan police personnel already had a full caseload, citing a plethora of crimes that had been reported in various parts of the nation in recent months, such as banditry attacks in the North Rift and al-Shabaab attacks in Lamu.
Ekuru Aukot, the leader of the Thirdway Alliance Party, who was also present at the panel discussion, called into question the deployment debate, arguing that the US-backed drive for deployment was negatively portraying Kenya.
Aukot contended that doing business with the Haitian government would be the same as arranging a contract with the terrorist organization al-Shabaab because the legitimacy of the administration is in doubt.
