President William Ruto Wednesday held a telephone conversation with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the developments in Haiti.
Blinken briefed Ruto on the decision of the Summit of Caribbean Countries (Caricom) and the US, together with other partners, on the political situation in Haiti.
“He informed me that a new Presidential Council will be formed shortly to manage the situation in Haiti.”
“I assured Secretary Blinken that Kenya will take leadership of the UN Security Support Mission in Haiti to restore peace and security in Haiti as soon as the Presidential Council is in place under an agreed process,” Ruto said.
He made the revelations a day after Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned from office.
The resignation of Henry follows weeks of mounting pressure and increasing violence in the country.
This threw the plans to deploy the officers into confusion.
It comes after regional leaders met in Jamaica on Monday to discuss a political transition in Haiti.
Henry is currently stranded in Puerto Rico after being prevented by armed gangs from returning home.
He had led the country since the former president’s assassination in July 2021.
Read: Blinken Calls Ruto to Accelerate Deployment of Police to Haiti Amid Violence
Speaking following the meeting in Kingston, Caribbean community chair and Guyana President Irfaan Ali said: “We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and naming of an interim prime minister.”
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.
Henry 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.
A plane carrying Henry was stopped from landing following sustained attacks at Haiti’s international airport.
In Kenya, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki Monday disclosed that the Kenyan-led Haiti Mission is in the pre-deployment stage.
This means the team is on standby mode and all they are waiting for are logistics to move.
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 had been undergoing necessary training until January 4 when they graduated and put on standby.
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