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Haiti police in Nairobi, meets commanders ahead of deployment

President Ruto said last week said Kenya will honour its commitments to restore peace in the Caribbean country.

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by Allan Kisia

News19 June 2024 - 01:58

In Summary


  • More than 1,000 police officers will join other teams in deploying to Haiti to fight gangs.
  • Apart from Kenya, other countries that will send officers to Haiti are Chile, Jamaica, Grenada, Paraguay, Burundi, Chad, Nigeria and Mauritius.
A team of Haitian police commanders during a meeting with Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome on June 18, 2024.

A team of Haitian police commanders arrived in Nairobi on Monday for a series of meetings with local commanders.

The group on Tuesday met Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome and his team and asked for help to stabilise their country.

“We are counting on your support,” the Haitian police official Joachim Prohete said during his meeting.

The delegation and the IG held discussions regarding the upcoming National Police Service-led Multilateral Security Support Mission to Haiti.

Koome, in turn, assured the Haitian police, that "NPS remains committed to collaboration in the mission, for the good of the people of Haiti especially women and children".

“We are ready and committed to come over and assist whenever needed,” he said.

The meeting was also attended by deputy IG of Kenya Police Service, Douglas Kanja, and his Administration Police Service counterpart, Noor Gabow, who is the lead NPS officer on the Haiti mission.

The team met with commanders of the team to be deployed to Haiti.

They were also to be taken to barracks where Haitian police will be trained.

Officials said the Kenyan team will leave for Haiti before end of June.

President William Ruto said last week said Kenya will honour its commitments to restore peace in the Caribbean country. 

“We have a very blessed nation that is being depended on by foreign nations as well, people from Sudan, and [the] DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo] are waiting on Kenya to assist them,” he said. 

"For those in Haiti maybe this coming week or next week we will deploy our Police to maintain peace.” 

The President hinted that the arrangements which had been taking place in the country would be finalised in the coming weeks.

The preparations for the deployment are complete and teams have been moved to their respective camps ahead of the departure.

Kenya, which is leading the 2,500-member security force, has agreed with the Haitian government on rules of engagement for the security personnel, who could face fierce opposition from the well-armed Haitian gangs that have taken over the country’s capital and overwhelmed local police.

More than 1,000 police officers will join other teams in deploying to Haiti to fight gangs.

Apart from Kenya, other countries that will send officers to Haiti are Chile, Jamaica, Grenada, Paraguay, Burundi, Chad, Nigeria and Mauritius.

The Kenyan teams are from the Rapid Deployment Unit, Anti Stock Theft Unit, General Service Unit and Border Patrol Unit.

This is a combat-trained team that, officials say, can handle the situation on the ground professionally.

They have undertaken training in various areas, including language.

Ruto said the police peacekeeping police force is expected to arrive in Haiti in about three weeks.

Gabow had led a reconnaissance team to Haiti and, among others, concluded the local police need urgent retraining to be able to instil law and order.

The team arrived back in Kenya on May 27 after a weeklong tour.

Officials said the team had concluded there is urgent need for retraining of the Haiti police.

Among others, the Haiti police need special squads that can respond to various scenes and contain any threat.

The team participated in an ongoing training of a small team of special squads in Port au Prince and gave a lecture on their expectations.

The special squad is being trained by an American team on the ground and will come in handy when more foreign police officers arrive, officials say.

Teams are identifying translators to be used in the anticipated operations.

They will be used in training, patrols and other operations both in Kenya and Haiti.

The officers were expected to start arriving before the end of May but an advance team on the ground said some logistics are not ready, hence the extension of two more weeks.

In Haiti, anticipation is high that the arrival of foreign forces will help loosen the tight grip by armed gangs that have forced shortages in medications and food.

Gabow and his team met with the seven members of the Transitional Presidential Council, which is exercising the functions of the Office of the President until such a time as a new president is elected and inaugurated.

The team has appointed Garry Connile as the new prime minister of Haiti.

The reconnaissance team also met local police commanders for talks and way forward.

And as part of the agreement, at least 2,000 Haiti police officers will fly to Kenya for training.

The middle and lower cadre officers will be flown to Kenya for a short training on law, combat and other policing matters before they go back to their country for deployment.

Officials said the team identified key places the more than 2,5000 police officers will be deployed in Haiti when they land there.

The team agreed with local leadership they will man the main port, airport, main hospital, two main highways and the White House which is the presidential palace.

The officers will serve as the backbone of a force that will include officers from at least six different countries from Africa, the Caribbean and southern Asia.


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