Haitian National police SWAT unit and Kenyan Police walk trough a steep hill to board an armoured vehicle after one of the vehicles broke down on a steep hill while patrolling through a neighborhood, after the arrival of the first contingent of Kenyan police as part of a peacekeeping mission, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti June 28, 2024.
Kenya will lead a UN-backed mission to eradicate gangs and other criminal elements in at least 15 Haitian towns and municipalities, the Nation has learned.
The mapping of the zones gives a sneak peek of the enemy and reveals the task ahead of Kenya Police who will be leading the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission to restore law and order in the troubled Caribbean nation.
The plan comes just four days after Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille declared a state of emergency as he authorised the Haitian National Police (PNH) and the Kenyan contingent to kick off operations in the affected areas.
“I authorise the Haitian National Police (PNH), with the support of the Haitian Armed Forces (Fad’H) and the MSS to gradually begin deployment and launch operations in the affected areas,” said Dr Conille.
The municipalities earmarked for operation are Gressier, Carrefour, Port-au-Prince, Delmas, Cite Soleil, Tabarre, Petion-Ville, Kenscoff, Croix-des-Bouquets, Cabaret and Thomazeau.
Others are Petiete Reviere de I’Artibonite, Liancourt, Verrettes and National Road and a stretch from Gros Morne to TiBois d’Homme.
In Gressier, a commune in the Port-au-Prince arrondissement, the UN-backed mission is likely to face off with a gang known as 103 Zombie.
The gang shot to the limelight on June 30, 2024, when it staged a horrifying attack that left 25 people dead and several others, including a Catholic priest, kidnapped.
Jean Vladimir Bertrand, the municipality’s mayor, said that 200 heavily armed bandits stormed the town and attacked the local police station, taking all the police officers hostage.
“We were hit very hard in Gressier. The people continue to pay with their blood for the bad acts of terrorism. Today it is your turn [the new leaders] because security is the people’s priority,” Mr Emmanuel Menard, a political leader and the president of a reformist group in Haiti, said at the time.
In Carrefour, operates a gang led by Mr Caid Christ Roi “Krisla” Chery, and on April 18, 2024, killed seven people, including two police officers.
Carrefour is a town in the Southern part of the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan area. The criminals stormed Omega, the Central Police Station, where they looted, forcing officers to flee in the process.
In Port-au-Prince the UN-backed contingents are likely to encounter two major criminal groups and their allies— the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies (FRG9 or G9) and the G-Pep. The two groups have been operating in Port-au-Prince since 2020.
It is worth noting that the leader of the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies is the most dreaded gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, alias Barbecue. Barbecue is an ex-police officer.
Mr Wethzer Piercin, a journalist based in Haiti, told the Nation that the two groups were linked to different political outfits in the country.
“The rivalry amongst the groups was evident on their way of operations and each is linked to two opposing political groups,” he said.
Unlike other gangs, the G9 comprises many ex-officers and ex-soldiers and has been fronting itself as a revolutionary organisation.
Since October 2023, when it was made clear that Kenya would be leading an MSS Mission in Haiti, the G9 gang has been creating a nationwide alliance network dubbed G20.
Barbecue, media reports say, has managed to put together more criminal gangs that also operate in Delmas, Cite Soleil District,
In Tabarre Municipality, the largest gang is 400 Mawozo, which also operates in Croix-des-Bouquets, Ganthier, and in Port-au-Prince's Tabarre, Pétion-Ville, Kenscoff communes.
It also has branches in Gros-Morne and the Dominican Republic and has a waiting list for aspiring members.
The leader of 400 Mawozo is Wilson Joseph alias Lanmo San Jou, alias Lanmò Sanjou, which loosely translates to ‘death known in no days’.
Canaan gang has made Cabaret Municipality, whose many dwellers are deportees from the United States, its home base. Canaan is led by a man identified only as “Jeff,” who is believed to be allied with the “5 Seconds” gang.
In Liancourt, operates a gang called Gran Grif whose leader is Luckson Elan while in Verretes operates two gangs called Savien's gangs alias "Baz Gran Grif" and Kokorat San Ras.
Speaking to the Nation, MSS Mission Commander Godfrey Otunge said that the mission had already taken over the Autorite Portuaire Nationale Port located in Port-au-Prince the capital of Haiti.
He also said that the “officers will be handling the mission while adhering to internationally accepted practices and rule of law, officers attached to the Haiti police and those under the MSS are relentlessly striving to get rid of gang activity.”
“The group of officers will be conducting daily operations to stabilise Haiti while striving to reclaim critical facilities currently under the gangs,” he said.
Over the weekend, Mr Lesile Voltaire, the chairman of a transitional council that has been tasked with leading the country into an election in the next two years, paid the MSS mission a visit.
Transitional council
It is worth noting that the transitional council that picked Dr Conille as Haiti’s Prime Minister had been silent on whether it was in support of the United Nations (UN) funded peacekeeping mission.
Addressing the officers while accompanied by Mr Otunge, Mr Voltaire thanked the Kenyan Government for acting fast to free Haiti from the grip of gangs.
“I want to thank President William Ruto for taking the first bold step of sending Kenyan troops to Haiti for the MSS mission. I would like to visit here again in September,” he said.
Over the weekend, six top officers from Jamaica who had stayed in Haiti for a week, completed their mission to assess the situation before they could deploy their soldiers.
Mr Otunge told the Nation that the soldiers from Jamaica are very key in the mission as they will handle a number of tasks.
“They are key because it is them that will handle the coastal region of the country, which includes the port. They are known to have a strong military and those are the soldiers that will be working in the MSS mission,” he said.
Apart from Jamaica and Kenya, other countries that will be sending its officers to Haiti are Benin, the Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda.
Others are Bangladesh, Algeria, Canada, France, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago. Turkey, the United Kingdom (UK) and Spain.
The mission is ongoing despite calls by gang leader Jimmy Cherizier alias Barbeque who is a former police officer making calls to the government to hold negotiations as it was the only way peace would be restored.
However, Dr Cornille has maintained that he would only allow talks if the gangs surrender and also hand over their weapons.
The MSS mission is an international force that was authorised by the UN Security Council on October 2, 2023, to assist the government of Haiti in restoring law and order.
Since March 2024, more than 580,000 people have been displaced by organised gangs causing chaos, particularly in Port-au-Prince.
