Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki Monday disclosed that the Kenyan-led Haiti Mission is in the pre-deployment stage.
He said the plans to deploy the more than 1,000 cops is ongoing.
Kindiki said the signing of the reciprocal agreement between Kenya and Haiti on March 1 as required by the court set the stage for the deployment.
The agreement was signed in Nairobi by security ministers from the two countries in the presence of President William Ruto and Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
“There was a small court matter which has been resolved. The court said we needed to have a reciprocal agreement with Haiti, that reciprocal agreement was signed more than a week ago,” he said.
Kindiki said all the other programs that are related to the deployment of the 1,000-strong Kenya police units to the gang-hit Caribbean nation are in place including the Status of Forces Agreement and the laws on detention, arrests, and other enforcement measures.
He added that the Standard Operation Procedures that will guide how the Multinational Security Support mission will be handled have also been finalized.
Kindiki pointed out that Kenyan police officers will be part of a larger security force tasked with restoring order in Haiti.
“Kenya is a lead nation but there are so many countries that have pledged to contribute troops and this came from the mandate of the United Nations Security Council and is part of our international obligations,” he added.
This comes amid ongoing violence in the country.
As heavily armed gangs continue to challenge Haiti’s weak government and turn the country’s capital into a battlefield, the State Department on Sunday March 10 flew in U.S. Marines to reinforce its embassy and evacuate non-essential personnel.
The middle-of-the-night operation was conducted via helicopter by the U.S. military at the request of the State Department, the U.S. Southern Command said in a statement.
“This airlift of personnel into and out of the embassy is consistent with our standard practice for embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft,” the statement said.
The airlift comes amid ongoing gang attacks in multiple locations around metropolitan Port-au-Prince, including Tabarre, where the U.S. embassy is located. Several nearby businesses have been looted and overtaken by armed gangs that today control more than 80 percent of the capital.
Since last Thursday, armed groups have led a coordinated attack, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, and targeting key Haitian government institutions.
After taking control of several police stations, they targeted the main seaport before orchestrating a mass prison break at the two largest prisons.
Thousands of inmates were freed by the gangs, including several notorious gang leaders.
The gangs have also launched attacks against the international and domestic airports.
Heavy gunfire around the airports has led to the suspension of international flights into the country.
Henry, who is under pressure by the United States and the Caribbean Community to resign, remains outside of the country, unable to return. He is in Puerto Rico.
Haiti recently extended a 72-hour state of emergency and curfew to a month, and deployed members of its fledgling army to assist the Haiti National Police.
To help in the fight against gangs, the U.S. government recently provided the police with additional ammunition.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ruto to discuss the ongoing political and security crisis in Haiti.
They underscored unwavering commitment to the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission to support the Haitian National Police in creating the security conditions necessary to conduct free and fair elections.
A team of police officers to be deployed to Haiti to help combat gangs there has been put on standby in Nairobi.
Officials aware of the plans said they had been told to be ready for deployment for the mission anytime.
Kenya which will lead the team to combat the gangs plans to deploy more than 1,000 officers to Haiti to help in the mission.
The teams are from the Rapid Deployment Unit, Anti Stock Theft Unit, General Service Unit, and Border Patrol Unit.
This is a combat trained team that officials say can handle the situation on the ground professionally.
In October, the United Nations approved a Multinational Security Support mission for Haiti.
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