Marco Rubio praises Kenyan led Haiti mission in rare move

US Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio hinted that US President-elect Donald Trump will continue backing the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti led by Kenyan police once he takes office.

Speaking during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio commended Kenya’s efforts for leading the mission despite facing financial challenges.

He, however, indicated that restoring peace in Haiti would require assistance from foreign partners, indicating that the incoming administration would stay on course in supporting the mission.

“There is no easy answer, the Kenyans are there and they deserve a lot of credit for being willing to take on that mission and in recent days missions from various countries have arrived. I don’t think anyone has a master plan for how you fix that overnight,” he said.

“You have to establish a baseline security and it’s not going to come from a US military intervention. So, I would include foreign partners in the Western Hemisphere, who should be contributing to this effort to provide some level of stability and security in Haiti, so that you can explore the opportunities to have a transitional government that has legitimacy that can ultimately lead to the conduct of elections.”

The Biden administration has been pushing for the MSS mission to be transformed into a formal United Nations peacekeeping mission to guarantee funding.

To date, the United States government has provided more than Sh77 billion for the mission despite facing stiff opposition from the Republican lawmakers in Parliament.

Currently, the mission has been receiving support from voluntary contributions but transitioning to a UN-peacekeeping mission means that all the 193 UN member states would be required to fund the process.

Kenya has since deployed over 400 police officers by mid-2024.

More than 620 others are set to fly to Port-au-Prince by February to bolster those on the ground.
Other countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Jamaica and Belize have also deployed troops to the Caribbean nation.

The Kenya police deployed to Haiti are upbeat on their mission following the graduation of least 739 Haitian police officers rom a college after a five-month training.

This is a boost in the ongoing operation against criminal gangs terroring locals, officials said.
The new officers are expected to join special units within the HNP to strengthen and enhance police operations.

This development is a significant boost in the fight against gang violence.

The MSS also plans to establish new FOBs in the two most affected regions, further consolidating efforts to restore law and order in Haiti. The forces are in Haiti to boost a United Nations-backed security mission led by Kenya that has so far failed to prevent violence from escalating.
This was the first tranche of a UN-approved international force that will be made up of 2,500 officers from various countries.
In March 2024, armed gangs stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, freeing around 3,700 inmates.