Kenya parliament approves deployment of police to Haiti

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenya’s parliament has approved the deployment of 1000 police officers to Haiti, under a peacekeeping mission approved the the United Nations (UN) Security Council. 

The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security and the Senate Standing Committee on National Security, Defence & Foreign Relations jointly approved the mission that will see Kenyan troops dispatched to the Caribbean nation next year, to restore combat gangs that have largely overrun Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

While appearing before the joint committee on November 9, 2023, Police Inspector General Japhet Koome said the Kenyan troop will be deployed in stages and a selection exercise has been done to identify the officers who will take part in the mission. 

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki also appeared before the House committee, where he broke down the cost of the Haiti mission. 

Kindiki told MPs the deployment of Kenya’s 1000 troops will cost $241,390,961 (Ksh. 36,570,730,591), which will be will be obtained from UN member states. The total cost of the mission that will involve troops from other countries will cost $600 (Ksh.91billion).

“Unless all resources are mobilised and availed, our troops will not leave the country. They will not leave Kenyan soil until the equipment required on the ground in Haiti is in place,” Kindiki told the joint committee.

The United Nations Security Council approved the Multinational Security Support mission that will be led by Kenya. 

Other nations such as The Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda are also willing to help.