Court Stops Deployment of Kenya Police to Haiti

President William Ruto’s plan to deploy police to Haiti suffered a blow after a court stopped the mission. 

High Court judge Justice Chacha Mwita said the National Security Council, which includes the President, does not have the powers to deploy regular police outside of the country.

In a ruling issued by High Court Judge Chacha Mwita on Friday January 26 noted that the National Security Council and National Police Service do not have powers to deploy police outside the country.

Mwita made the ruling following an application made by Thirdway Alliance Party leader Ekuru Aukot who wanted the court to block the deployment stating that it was illegal.

“To be clear, Article 240 does not mandate the Council to deploy police officers outside Kenya. Deployment should be as provided for in part 14 of the Act and only to a reciprocating country,” he ruled.

Read: Haiti Team in Nairobi Ahead of Kenya Police Deployment

“It is not contested that there is no reciprocal arrangement between Kenya and Haiti and for that reason, there can be no deployment of police to that country.”

The judge acknowledged that Kenya’s offer to help mitigate a humanitarian crisis in Haiti was noble, however, he maintained that such deployment needed to be undertaken in accordance with the Constitution.

There are plans to introduce new laws on the same or appeal the ruling.

Aukot filed his petition in court after Parliament approved the deployment of 1,000 officers to the Carribbean nation.

Read Also: Kenyan Delegation Lands in Haiti, Meets Officials Ahead of Police Deployment

A team of Kenyan police to be deployed to Haiti has completed their training.

The teams from the Rapid Deployment Unit, Anti Stock Theft Unit, General Service Unit, and Border Patrol Unit completed their circulating training from various camps on January 4.

Officials said the team was told to take a brief rest ahead of a key ruling in court on the way forward on their planned deployment.

Plans were to hold a graduation event at GSU Recce squad headquarters in Ruiru to mark the start of the deployment.

Read Also: Members of the Parliament Approve Deployment of 1,000 Police Officers to Haiti

Aukot sued President William Ruto and his administration in a bid to block the peacekeeping mission that will see the deployment of at least 1,000 police officers to the gang-ridden nation.
He argued that Kenya has not ratified any law or treaty to allow the deployment of police officers outside the country.
At stake is more than Sh30 billion the team will get from various stakeholders for deployment.

More than 1,000 officers will be picked from the Rapid Deployment Unit, Anti Stock Theft Unit, General Service Unit, and Border Patrol Unit to form a larger team for deployment.

These officers have paramilitary training and are likely to work well with other personnel from countries that have agreed to send theirs to Haiti for the same mission.

Kenya plans take the command and operations of about 3,000 personnel.

The team will also use their AK47 rifles as the main combating weapons.

Department of Peace Operations, the multinational force in Haiti was to be overseen by Kenya, although its forces are there with U.N. authorization, which gives the intervention the backing of international law.

Chile, Jamaica, Grenada, Paraguay, Burundi, Chad, Nigeria and Mauritius are among the countries that have confirmed the deployment of their officers to Haiti.

A high-powered delegation from Haiti that arrived in Nairobi on a fact-finding mission about the preparation of Kenyan police to be deployed to the Caribbean nation have given the process a thumps up.

The team led by Director General of the Haitian National Police, Frantz Elbe and Director of Criminal Investigations in Haiti Mr Frédéric Leconte told officials they were satisfied and ready to receive the Kenyan team in their country.

The team landed in Nairobi on Tuesday December 12 for a three-day tour to understand how the Kenyan police operate.

The team on December 13, 2023 met Kenya’s Inspector General National Police Service Japhet Koome and other top police commanders.

They later visited DCI headquarters, Administration Police Training College, National Police Communications and Command Centre and other highly sensitive and secretive places to learn the operations there, officials said.

Read Also: Court Extends Interim Orders Stopping Deployment of Kenya Police to Haiti

And after the tour the team left saying Kenya is more than ready to help them.

“They said they are waiting for our arrival there. They are happy with our preparations to help them,” said an official aware of the deliberations.

Deputy Inspector General Administration Police Service, Noor Gabow who is leading the Haiti mission led the teams in the visit.

The visit was part of the preparation for the deployment of the more than 1,000 police officers from Kenya to join a 3,000-strong team to be sent to Port-Au-Prince for the controversial Multinational Mission to Support Security (MSS) the United Nations approved last year.

Plans were in place to dispatch the first team of about 300 officers by February if the court allows that, officials said.

The visit came days after a Kenyan team flew to Haiti and held a meeting with local authorities on December 5.


The second delegation from Kenya had an important working meeting with Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and members of the government, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.



Accompanied by representatives of the American administration, it also met members of the High Council of the Transition (HCT), namely Mirlande Hyppolite Manigat, Calix Fleuridor and Laurent St Cyr.



The Kenyans also had a long working session with the high command of the Haitian National Police in the capital city.



Parliament approved the deployment of 1,000 police officers to Haiti.

In October, the Cabinet approved the deployment of 1,000 police officers to Haiti, jumping one more legal hurdle in the circuitous approvals needed to have the move get legal backing.



In the first trip in August last year, a dozen senior police officers toured Toussaint Louverture International Airport and neighboring sites in Port-au-Prince Haiti, in August for an assessment study.

The US is partly funding the MSS to the tune of $200 million if Congress approves.

The US will also provide choppers and vehicles the team will use on the ground.
They will also cater for food and other logistical issues for the troops.

Gangs have taken increasing control of Port-au-Prince since the assassination of the country’s president in 2021 threw Haiti into a political crisis.

Thousands of Haitians have fled their homes in the capital, while more than 2,400 others have been killed, according to the latest figures from the UN.

Kenya’s move has been backed by the UN. 
Unlike a UN peacekeeping mission, where the blue-helmeted forces are under the control of the U.N.

Kenya Police Service has a long history and rich track record in peacekeeping missions and peace support operations to Namibia, Cambodia, former Yugoslavia, UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, East Timor, Croatia, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, and Darfur.