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Kenya Pushed To Recall Police From Haiti After Trump Win

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The former Defence Cabinet Secretary (CS) on Friday, November 8 called for the US/Kenya lead mission to be defunded and the police officers recalled to the East African country

Democratic Action Party – Kenya (DAP-K) party leader, Eugene Wamalwa now wants Kenya police officers to be withdrawn from Haiti following Donald Trump’s election as United States (US) President.

The former Defence Cabinet Secretary (CS) on Friday, November 8 called for the US/Kenya lead mission to be defunded and the police officers recalled to the East African country to deal with issues such as abductions and femicide.

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“The fate of the Haiti mission after Trump’s victory should be to push for defunding and replacement of the US/Kenyan lead Mission by UN-led and funded mission and return of Kenyan officers home to deal with rising insecurity, abductions, enforced disappearances, femicide and extrajudicial killings,” Wamalwa wrote on X.

Wamalwa was responding to a news report whereby President William Ruto had earlier touched on the subject at hand during a phone call with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Kalonzo Musyoka with Eugene Wamalwa during a past press briefing. /DAP-KENYA

The US Department of State in a statement revealed that Ruto had thanked Blinken for Kenya’s continued leadership of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti as it works with its Haitian counterparts to restore peace and security to the Haitian people.

“I have had a constructive conversation with US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti. We discussed the transition of the mission into a UN peacekeeping operation to enhance the capability of the mission to help stabilise.

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“Kenya and the United States are continuously working together to enhance our collaboration to ensure improved governance. This includes the fight against corruption and provision of capacity building to make our security institutions more efficient, effective and accountable in the discharge of their mandate,” Ruto said.

MSS, an international police and military force, was authorized by the United Nations Security Council on October 2, 2023, to assist the Haitian government in restoring law and order amidst rampant gang violence. The mission was established under UN Security Council Resolution 2699, which received 13 votes in favour, with China and Russia abstaining. 

Kenya leads the mission, coordinating closely with the Haitian National Police, while other nations contributing personnel include Jamaica, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, and Chad. The first contingent of Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti on June 25, 2024, followed by a second group of 200 officers on July 16, 2024.

Almost a month ago, during the visit on October 11 by Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conille to Nairobi, President Ruto appealed for urgent financial support from the international community to sustain the Kenya-led security deployment in Haiti, which has been extended by a year.

Following Trump’s win, this mission is now at stake and its eventual status could be jeopardized when the American political schism over Haiti comes into play with the new administration. The Democratic party has been in support of the Haitian multinational stabilization force while the Republicans have often shown little time for it.

Outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration has single-handedly pushed for the formation and funding of the Haitian mission and as he exits many international observers are unanimous that Haiti will not be the Republican government’s priority. This factor will directly affect the status and performance of the Kenyan police contingent on the ground.

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Last month, President Ruto mentioned that the status of the funding was shaky and might only last until the first quarter of the coming year. The election of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America has left the Kenyan Head of State with his fingers crossed as to the fate of his security officers on the ground and the future of the whole mission. His strongest covert option now should be to have an evacuation plan for his officers at short notice but outwardly he should strongly lobby the U.S. to push for a hand-over to the United Nations (U.N.)

The local envoy to Nairobi from Washington, Meg Whitman has been very instrumental in the warm relationship between Nairobi and Washington but with the change in guard in Washington, will this hold? Trump’s policy towards Africa and indeed most of the world, if it follows his stint during the first term from 2017 to 2021, will undoubtedly be one of disengagement from situations that do not impact the lives of people in the U.S.

Contingent of Kenya Police before their deployment to Haiti on June 24, 2024. /PCS

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