US to set up camp for Kenyan security officers in Haiti- Whitman

By Moses Muli

Published: March 26, 2024 4:25 PM(EAT)

The United States has said it will assist Kenya put up a camp in Haiti for the security officers ahead of the planned deployment.

US ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman disclosed this Tuesday pointing out that various teams from the Department of Defense have already been to the country to assess the situation on the ground.

“This is a very complicated mission. It is not a UN peacekeeping mission. The Department of Defense needs to set up a camp in Haiti where the police force will go,” she stated

Whitman also acknowledged the delay in the deployment of the troops attributing this to the resignation of the country’s prime minister Ariel Henry.

She said the current situation was a complicated one that needs adequate planning.

“The police need to be retrained, and vetted before the mission,” she noted.

The envoy, at the same time, emphasized the need for the deployment of the officers thanking President William Ruto for agreeing to offer the support.

“I want to thank President Ruto for offering to step forward to help Haiti and stating that Kenya has the opportunity to help a country that has her brothers and sisters living outside there,” said Whitman who was on a tour to Nyeri.

“Haitians are part of Africans living in different parts of the world,” she added.

Ariel had been in Kenya on March 1 to sign a deal on the deployment of an international security force to help tackle violence when a coalition of gangs attacked police stations and stormed two of Haiti’s largest prisons.

Kenya which will lead the team plans to deploy more than 1,000 officers to Haiti to help in the mission.

The teams are from the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU), Anti Stock Theft Unit (ASTU), General Service Unit (GSU), and Border Patrol Unit (BPU).

This is a combat-trained team that officials say can handle the situation on the ground professionally.

Heavily armed gangs have controlled the streets of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince in recent days, demanding the resignation of the unelected prime minister.

Several countries have also pledged financial and logistical support to the team to be deployed to Haiti.

They include the US, Canada, Chile, Jamaica, Nigeria, Benin and Burundi.

Some two weeks ago, the US government said it would contribute a further $100m (£78m) for the mission.

This is in addition to the previous pledge of Sh14 billion.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said nations were “coming together in a positive direction” over the crisis following emergency talks.

“I’m announcing today that the United States Department of Defense is doubling its approved support for the mission from $100 million (Sh13.9 billion) to $200 million (Sh27.8 billion). And that brings the total US support to $300 million (Sh41.7 billion) for this effort,” Blinken said after a meeting of Caribbean states (CARICOM) in the Jamaican capital of Kingston.