Kenya’s president makes urgent cash call for Haiti mission

Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conille (L) is in Kenya for talks with President Willian Ruto (R)

EPA Kenya President William Ruto (R) and Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille (L) shake hands after addressing a joint press conference during Conille's official state visit, at the Statehouse in Nairobi, Kenya, 11 October 2024. — Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conille (L) is in Kenya for talks with President Willian Ruto (R)

Kenya has appealed for urgent financial support from the international community to sustain a police deployment in Haiti, which has been extended by a year.

The multinational security mission, which began in June, is helping fight gangs controlling much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and nearby areas.

More than 3,600 people have been killed in the country since January, including over 100 children, while more than 500,000 Haitians have been forced from their homes, the UN said.

“We are asking the international community to match their commitment and their pledges with the necessary action for us to be able to complete the task ahead of us,” Kenya’s President William Ruto said on Friday.

He was speaking after a meeting in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, with Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conille.

Violence in Haiti is still rife and a UN human rights expert has warned that gangs are targeting new areas, causing further displacement.

Kenya deployed 400 of its pledged 1,000 police officers in June and July this year.

On Friday, President Ruto said the remaining 600 are undergoing training and would join the mission next month.

A handful of other countries have together pledged at least 1,900 more officers.

Although the mission was approved by the UN security council, it is not a UN operation and relies on voluntary financial contributions.

Only $85m (£65m) of the mission’s estimated $600m required annually for its operation has been received so far through a trust fund set up by the UN, according to Human Rights Watch.

It is not clear how much money has been spent so far but Ruto says more financial support is needed to “sustain” the mission until October next year.

“When resources are made available, there will be demonstrable progress of the mission,” President Ruto.

Ruto said that the available funds would run out by March next year.

“We have a window of success that is evident from the operations that have been carried out already,” the president added.

He said the deployment was already showing positive results – “restoring hope and a glimpse of stability”.

Conille asked international partners to send the officers they had pledged to ensure the “contingent from Kenya has the resources they need”.

The Haitian prime minister denied reports that the Kenyan police officers were staying in camps like tourists while the gangs were tightening their grip on large swathes of Port-au-Prince, since the mission began.

“I have personally been on patrol with the Kenyan troops who have engaged in delicate operations in the city centre. They are involved in patrolling universities, hospitals and administrative areas,” Conille said.

“They are also up north to help address the threat with the gangs.”

Last month, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the mission for another year and rejected calls from Haiti on transforming it into a UN peacekeeping mission.

A UN human rights expert who has just been to the Caribbean nation said the mission was inadequately equipped and needed helicopters, as well as night vision goggles and drones.

“The Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), authorised by the UN Security Council in October 2023, has so far deployed less than a quarter of its planned contingent,” William O’Neil said last month.