Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli has assured the Kenyan police officers in Haiti of payments after their relatives raised concerns that they were yet to receive salary adjustments two months into the mission.
In a statement on Monday, August 26, 2024, Masengeli said that the Kenya Police Service had disbursed the Kenyan salaries as usual and that the Multinational Security Support mission (MSS) in Haiti would pay the salaries soon.
“NPS is also working very closely with other countries, partners and the United Nations to ensure continued support to the MSS. In the meantime, NPS Officers continue to draw their NPS salaries and the processing of their MSS deployment allowances has also been finalised,” Masengeli said.
This comes after MSS sent out a statement indicating that a mechanism had been put in place to ensure the police officers from various countries under its coordination would be paid promptly.
“Going forward, an elaborate mechanism has been put in place where payments will be promptly done at the end of the month. Therefore, there is nothing to worry about welfare issues of the MSS officers since mainstream processes have been finalized,” MSS said in a statement on Sunday, August 25, 2024.
MSS revealed that the process of disbursing salaries to the officers’ accounts was complete and that they would get the payments in their accounts in this week.
Kenya sent its first tranche of police officers to the Caribbean nation plagued with gang brutality on June 25, 2024, while the second troop landed on July 16, 2024.
Kenyan mission in Haiti
Currently, there are 400 Kenyan troops in the country on a mission to protect public infrastructure, protect civilians from gangs and restore access to c******l infrastructure such as roads and airports for humanitarian response.
The Kenyan officers are to receive an additional salary of Ksh100,000 on top of their National Police Service pay.
So far, the troops indicate they have achieved major success in gaining territories previously under the control of Haitian gang leader Jimmy Chérizier aka Barbecue.
On July 19, 2024, the law enforcement officers collaborated with their Haitian counterparts to recapture Port-au-Prince port after a fierce gun battle with gang members who had occupied the strategic seaport since March 6, 2024.
The officers also liberated Ganthier Town from gangs, lending credence to why the Kenyan police officers will tame Haiti gangs.
This operation followed Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille’s declaration of a 30-day st@te of security emergency on July 17, 2024, affecting 14 cities across the nation.