Kenyan Delegation Arrives in Haiti Ahead of Planned Deployment

A delegation of Kenyan officials, including the force commander for the mission, arrived in Haiti on Monday afternoon as part of an assessment team to inspect their constructed base and airport.

The delegation, which landed onboard a Sunrise Airways flight is expected to be in Haiti through the week and has several meetings planned including with the United Nations Integrated Office in Port-au-Prince, officials said.

Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police Noor Gabow is leading the delegation that visited Port au Prince last year for planning and reconnaissance.

He will serve as the Force Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission and has already arrived in the gang violence-hit Caribbean country.

Both U.S. and Kenyan officials have refused to officially discuss details of their plans, fearful that Haiti’s gangs — whose deadly rampage through Port-au-Prince forced the international community to expedite the force deployment — could be storing ammunition in preparation for a fight.

Officials said the first contingent from Kenya is expected to be a few hundred police officers and support staff.

A contingent in Jamaica is also on standby awaiting deployment orders.

The U.S. Defense Department has landed more than 37 flights in Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince since late April, local media said.

Kenyan troops will be used to guard the airport and other installations.

The airport, along with the neighboring Guy Malary domestic airport, had been shuttered to commercial and regular flights since armed gangs launched their attacks on February 29 against state institutions.

On Monday, Toussaint Louverture International Airport officially resumed operations, with an Amerijet touching down with cargo from Miami, and a local carrier, Sunrise Airways, receiving passengers for a Miami-bound flight scheduled to depart at 2:30 pm, the Miam Herald reported.

It remains the only airline operating out of Haiti’s main international airport for now. U.S.-based airlines not expected to resume operations until later this month or early June.

So far, six countries have formally told the U.N. Security Council they will provide personnel to the Multinational Security Support mission.

The U.N. on Monday also confirmed that a trust fund set up to finance the mission has received a new contribution: $3 million from Spain.

The donation now brings the fund’s total to $21 million.

As President Ruto engages with his host, Joe Biden, at the White House, officials said the focus of their discussions, amid the customary fanfare and diplomatic formalities, will centre squarely on Haiti.

Haiti enforcement mission holds significant strategic importance for Washington.

The arrival of tens of thousands of Haitian migrants at the US-Mexico border in 2021 generated domestic criticism from all sides that the Biden administration has poorly handled a cascading humanitarian crisis.

Foreign affairs Principal Secretary Korir Singoei said Sunday Kenya will deploy the police to Haiti in few days.

“I can tell you for sure that deployment will happen in few days or few weeks but there is no chance at all for president Ruto to go down to Port au Prince as has been alleged,” he said.

The advance team will pave way for deployment of the first group of about 200 police officers in the coming days, officials said.

This came amid reports civilian contractors have prepared for the arrival of Kenyan forces, whose deployment is currently in the works.

The barracks to be used by the Kenyan team have already been constructed.

Apart from Kenya, other countries that will send officers to Haiti are; Chile, Jamaica, Grenada, Paraguay, Burundi, Chad, Nigeria and Mauritius.

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 (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.

They have undertaken training in various areas including language.

Officials said they will be allowed to among others use the AK47 rifles for their operations.

This is because the weapons are their primary tool of training and operation.