FILE – Kenyan bobbies are on the beat as part of a peace mission stroll in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 17, 2024.
Nairobi, Kenya – Six hundred more Kenyan police officers hit the road for a UN-supported gig in Haiti, looking to chill the wild gang scene there by early November, Kenya’s top cop stated on Saturday.
Last Friday, President William Ruto laid down the law, saying more cops would join the cause after chewing the fat with Haiti’s interim Prime Minister, Garry Conille. They both nudged the global community to pitch in more help.
“A fresh squad of 600 officers is on deck to team up with the Kenyan forces currently on Haitian soil, once their pre-deployment brush-up is good to go,” declared Douglas Kanja, Kenya’s Inspector General of Police.
“These folks will be raring to go as soon as next month kicks off,” he said during a chinwag with reporters, standing shoulder to shoulder with Conille in Nairobi.
The mission, orchestrated by the East African nation, is on a mission to wipe out the escalating mayhem in the blighted Caribbean land, with 400 Kenyan officers already there putting in the legwork.
Kanja addressed worries regarding late paycheck arrivals for those already on the ground in Haiti, assuring, “Money now flows smoothly, and our officers are content.”
Ruto echoed calls for urgent solidarity from global counterparts on Friday, emphasizing the need for fresh funds to oil the mission’s wheels.
“Now’s the time to step up and give us that cutting-edge backing to get this critical job done,” he urged, with Conille chiming in agreement.
Conille dropped by Kenya about a week post a violent eruption in Ponte Sonde, a stone’s throw of 100 kilometers (60 miles) away from Port-au-Prince, where 109 folks were killed and about 40 suffered wounds in a gang shootout.
The UN Security Council recently pushed the mission’s clock forward for another year, sidestepping plans to morph it into a full-blown U.N. peacekeeping mission, much to Port-au-Prince’s surprise.
With over 3,600 souls claimed by mindless gang violence this year alone, as per the UN human rights office, Haiti’s grim reality is hard to shake off.
Edited by: Ali Musa
alimusa@axadletimes.com
Axadle international–Monitoring
