In New York, Ruto decries lack of support for Kenya’s mission in Haiti

 “For many years, the people of Haiti have repeatedly called on the International community to stand in solidarity with them and to help overcome their challenges. Too often, their appeals have been met with indifference or with support that was hesitant and inadequate,” Ruto said.

And seeming frustrated with the hard politics surrounding the Haiti issue, Ruto said even the support the mission received was of old equipment, risking the lives of the personnel.

“We have been operating at 40 percent capacity. Initially, it was expected that 2,500 security personnel would be made available. Unfortunately, it did not happen. It was expected there would have been force multipliers, armoured vehicles and logistical support to make the mission successful.

“I must commend the United States for giving us vehicles. Unfortunately, most of them were second-hand, and they broke down and put our people in grave danger when it happened in hostile areas. We did not get any useful support from any other quarters,” the President said.

Among the participants were representatives from Haiti itself, its neighbours in the Caribbean and representatives from the UN Security Council including the three African members, Algeria, Sierra Leone and Somalia.

The MSS, first established in October 2023, was meant to help Haiti People to build a peaceful, secure and politically stable future, by pushing back gang violence. But the story of MSS, it seems has been like other missions before it.

Dr Ruto noted that when Kenya volunteered for the mission, it was on the understanding that the international community would provide financial support and critical equipment.

Read: Haiti police go for four months without pay amid graft claims

While the mission had intended to establish 12 new forward operating bases, he explained, the plan had stalled “because of the logistical support architecture that could not allow equipment, food and other essentials to leave Port-au-Prince”.

He argued it was disappointing that the enthusiasm that greeted the MSS formation to Haiti has not translated into financial and logistical support. Now the MSS will either be ended, extended or remodeled into something new by next week when the UN Security Council decides in a sitting.

The MSS currently has 989 personnel, 40 percent of the initial 2500 intended. Of the current deployment, Kenya, which leads the MSS has 735, 150 from Guatemala, 78 from El Salvador, 23 from Jamaica, 3 from The Bahamas and 1 from Canada.

Under the mission, Kenyan officers were expected to push gangs out before handing over new bases to other mission forces. But logistical challenges and limited resources have undermined progress.

“... that we cannot marshal support to drive out the gangs is unacceptable, indefensible and simply wrong. If we are sending a security team, the mandate must be clear. We must also have a predictable resource package, not what Kenya has gone through; a game of guesswork. It must be predictable, and I do not understand why we cannot be serious.

Haiti deserves much

“The people of Haiti may be of African descent, but, for heaven’s sake, they are members of the human race, and they deserve as much, not less,” he said.

During one ambush by gangs, Benedict Kuria Kabiru, an officer attached to the Border Patrol Unit, disappeared. While Kenya has maintained that he is missing in action, the Haitian government quickly sent condolences, claiming Kabiru had died and that gangs were holding his body.

Yesterday, the President listed Kabiru alongside two other Kenyan officers—Samuel Tomoi Kaetuai and Kennedy Nzuve—as having lost their lives in the line of duty.

“I salute all the gallant men and women in the mission for their sacrifice, diligence and service, not only to the Haitian people but also to humanity. They overcame tremendous odds to deliver on an onerous but vitally important mandate,” he said.

Currently, the mission has 989 officers: 737 from Kenya, 150 from Guatemala, 78 from El Salvador, 23 from Jamaica, three from the Bahamas and one from Canada.

Plans are underway to replace the Kenyan-led mission with a new Gang Suppression Force (GSF), expected to have 5,500 officers. Proposed by the US and Panama, the GSF would specifically target Haiti’s gangs, now united under the Viv Ansanm coalition led by Jimmy Cherizier, alias Barbecue.

The MSS was approved in October 2023 and first deployed officers in June 2024. It was extended for a year in October 2024 by the UN Security Council, pushing its mandate to October 2, 2025. However, the resolution did not transition the operation into a UN-managed peacekeeping mission.

“The gangs are cowards. With minimal intervention, they scatter. The situation in Haiti can and must be solved,” President Ruto said, urging global leaders to back the effort.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the US and Panama had worked with Haiti to introduce a UN Security Council resolution to establish a larger force with a broader mandate and a UN support office. He called on partners to join the US in pressing for this critical resolution before the MSS mission mandate expires.

“This effort responds to the call from our partners in Kenya and has the full endorsement of Haiti,” he said.