Kenya court puts Haiti deployment on temporary hold for two weeks

A Kenyan court on Monday temporarily suspended the government's plan to send police to Haiti on a UN-backed mission that aims to restore calm in nthe Caribbean nation. 

A Kenyan police officer shoots a tear gas canister to disperse some protesters as they gather to demonstrate in Nairobi, Kenya on 12 July 2023. © AFP - LUIS TATO

The UN Security Council last week approved the Kenyan-led multinational security force for the  country with Kenya promising 1,000 police officers.

But a Nairobi court granted an interim injunction on Monday in a case brought by opposition politician and lawyer Ekuru Aukot, who argues the deployment is unconstitutional as is not backed by any law or treaty.

Aukot helped draft Kenya's revised 2010 constitution and charged that Kenya would be deploying its police abroad while it failed to quell insecurity within its own borders.

"I am satisfied that the application and petition raise substantial issues of national importance and public interest that require urgent consideration," High Court judge Enock Mwita ruled.

"A conservatory order is hereby issued restraining the respondents from deploying police officers to Haiti or any other country until 24 October 2023," the ruling reads.

Details of Kenya's deployment are still not finalised and parliament  has yet to approve the move as required by law.

A new type of mission

Haiti is considered to be the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. It has been in turmoil for years. Armed gangs have taken over parts of the country while the economy and public health system is also in tatters.

The UN-backed mission has been approved for one year and envisions Kenyan police working with their Haitian counterparts.

The force will provide "operational support to the Haitian National Police, including building its capacity through the planning and conduct of joint security support operations," according to the UN resolution passed last week.

• UN approves Kenya-led mission to combat gangs in Haiti

The mission  also aims to create conditions to hold elections, which have not taken place in Haiti since 2016.

Haiti:

"Haitians are wary of an armed U.N. presence. The Caribbean country was free of cholera until 2010, when U.N. peacekeepers dumped infected sewage into a river. More than 9,000 people died..."https://t.co/p8KA3tnYu1

— Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò (@OlufemiOTaiwo) October 7, 2023

Kenya's proposition is "bold and comes in good faith", Haiti expert at the United States Institute of Peace Keith Mines told RFI, "and the police and army have done well in other missions, but for this one they need more men.

"What could really support the mission would be Haitian elements, perhaps from the Haitian diaspora, who can speak creole and gain the locals' confidence."

The multinational mission "could be a relief" for people in cities such as the violence-plagued capital Port-au-Prince, noted Robert Fatton, a Haiti expert at the University of Virginia, even if he added that  "anything that is short term...will obviously collapse."

In a statement released early October, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), María Isabel Salvador emphasised that, "unlike recent international missions deployed in Haiti, the MSS mission is not a UN mission".  

The BINUH "will fully support it", nonetheless, "within the limits of its mandate...and in full respect of the decisions of the Haitian State."

The exact dates  of the mission remain to be confirmed by the authorities of Haiti and the lead-country, Kenya.

Statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti, @SALVADORMIsabel, following the vote today at the Security Council: a positive and decisive step.https://t.co/gpCV1GDybC

— BINUH (@BINUH_UN) October 2, 2023

Many criticisms

Kenya's involvement has been criticised at home, with many questioning the wisdom of such a risky mission. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has also criticised the proposal.

The request by United Nations Security Council for deployment of Police officers to Haiti will be subject to Parliamentary approval. Article 240 of the Constitution requires Parliament to approve deployment of security forces to any peacekeeping mission in foreign nations.… pic.twitter.com/sxoOH2FLbn

— Kithure Kindiki (@KindikiKithure) October 8, 2023

Whether Kenyan police will be a match for Haitian gangs on their own turf is doubtful, says Emiliano Kipkorir Tonui, who has overseen the deployment of Kenyan troops in several countries.

• History of Kenyan police violence raises concerns for Haiti mission

"Our policemen are not trained like the military in map reading. They are not trained in communication. They are not trained in handling weapons like machine guns," the former soldier, now a member of the Nairobi-based NGO Kenya Veterans for Peace, told French news agency AFP.

(with AFP)