Kenya has spent $16.2 Million on Haiti mission, Treasury records reveal

By Edwin Obuya, NAIROBI Kenya

The Kenyan government has so far spent Ksh.2.1 billion ($16.2 Million) on the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti.

President William Ruto sharing a light moment with KDF soldiers in Haiti on September 21, 2024

This is despite an earlier commitment that no taxpayer money would be used to fund the peace mission.

A letter from the Treasury to the National Assembly, seen by Citizen Digital, reveals that the National Treasury spent a total of Ksh.17.6 billion under Article 223, which allows the government to spend funds without parliamentary approval. Of this amount, Ksh.2 billion was directed to support Kenya’s peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

The disbursement, made on September 18th this year, raises concerns about the adequacy of funding for the mission, with reports suggesting that Kenyan troops are facing difficult conditions in Haiti. Critics have pointed out the discrepancy between the earlier assurance that taxpayer funds would not be used and the actual expenditure.

When contacted for clarification, Treasury CS John Mbadi explained that the funds spent by Kenya would be reimbursed by the United Nations.

“This money we are spending on behalf of the UN, we are the ones making the payment so the money comes from our exchequer because these are our officers,” he said.

“So we pay and they refund, but now we have to recognize the expenditure because it was not in the budget. The law says two months should not elapse, and when we do supplementary budgeting, we will reflect it as both income and expenditure,” Mbadi added.

President William Ruto, during a meeting with former Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille in Nairobi, urged the international community to urgently support the mission to sustain the deployment of police forces.

“We are asking the international community to match their commitment and their pledges with the necessary action for us to be able to complete the task ahead of us,” the President said.

Kenya has been leading the peacekeeping mission in Haiti since June, focusing on tackling gang violence in the country.