President William Ruto when he arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on September 21, 2024.
President William Ruto on Saturday (September 21) held private discussions with Kenyan police officers in Haiti who told him they needed more resources and prompt payment of their allowances to help them in their mission to restore peace in the Caribbean nation.
The officers expressed concern about their monthly compensation following recent delays in the payment of allowances, which are in addition to their salaries.
“Sir, we have a compensation issue. We are not aware of what is happening,” one of the officers is quoted pleading with the President during the meeting at Port-au-Prince.
President Ruto assured the officers that their welfare would be taken care of. He explained that they had insurance cover through the Kenyan National Police Service and that they would soon be informed of more covers.
The Kenyan officers, who are leading a Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission which is funded by the United Nations (UN) informed the Head of State that they needed more equipment.
Some of the weaponry they have requested include helicopters and additional Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) vehicles.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki were present during the meeting.
President Ruto, who will be attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, agreed that sufficient resources are critical to the realisation of the mission’s objective to restore peace and stability in the war-torn nation.
“I came here specifically to know about your progress so that friends and partners who believe in stability and peace can work with me at the United Nations General Assembly to make sure that you get the requisite support to ensure that you deliver,” President Ruto told the police officers.
President Ruto said it was important to ensure that the people of Haiti, especially women and youth, took advantage of the mission and started a drive for progressive change.
The Head of State said he had been briefed on a number of raids carried out by Kenyan officers alongside Haitian National Police (HNP) officers under the command of Godfrey Otunge.
He said he was proud of the raids, especially after they secured critical infrastructure and restored peace to regions that had proved impossible to stabilise in previous operations.
“There are many people who thought Haiti was mission impossible but today they have changed their minds because of the progress you have made,” he said.
Kenya had promised to deploy a total of 1,000 police officers to Haiti and so far, only 396 have arrived in the Caribbean nation.
President Ruto revealed that the additional officers were still undergoing training and would be ready for deployment in the next few weeks.
The first batch of 200 Kenyan officers left for Haiti in June 2024 and in July, an additional 196 also left for the country.
“We are here because we share your aspiration for freedom and self-determination. Together, we are working to create a future where the Haitian people can chart their own path for their own good,” he said.
So far, two gang leaders have been arrested and are in police custody for questioning about the gangs' operations.
The two are members of the Chen Mechan and Pierre 6 gangs.
In a statement last week, Mr Otunge said that the officers were out to ensure that they fully restore peace in Haiti.
On resources, three weeks ago, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said that it was important to ensure that the officers have the required resources.
“We want to make sure that the mission has the resources that it needs to do the job as effectively as possible. And so we’re looking at additional personnel contributions,” he said.
So far, only Kenya and Jamaica have sent their officers to Haiti.
Other countries that promised to do so and are yet to send their officers include; the Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Barbuda, Italy, Spain, Mongolia, Senegal, Belize, Suriname, Guatemala and Peru.
He said that it was critical to ensure the officers in the Caribbean nation get their salaries on time.
“We have some money in the bank to do that, including through the UN fund that has been established. But we are projecting out and as we’re looking at growing the MSS mission itself, we also have to figure out what’s going to be required to pay for that,” he said.
Plans are underway to extend the mission which is scheduled to end in October.
