- There were reports that Kenya is planning to train some 2,000 Haiti offices in Kenya prior to the launch of the mission.
- The reports emerged after a delegation to the Caribbean nation returned to the country a week ago.
Image: FILE
The government has refuted reports it is planning to train some Haitian police officers in the country ahead of the launch of the multinational security support (MSS) mission.
Prime Cabinet Musalia Mudavadi explained at the moment, there were no such existing arrangements as per the United Nations framework for deployment.
“We have not reached that level at all and if they are going to be trained we will make it public the way we have made the mission public,” he said.
“We would not hide anything whatsoever, it would not be a secret,” he stated.
Mudavadi was responding to a question over the alleged arrangement to offer a short training to some 2,000 Haiti offices in Kenya prior to the launch of the mission.
The reports emerged after a reconnaissance team to the Caribbean nation returned to the country.
Sources said the officers were to be flown to the country for training on law, combat and other policing matters before they go back to their country for deployment.
“The training of the police officers is part of what we have agreed. It will be cheaper and easier to train them in Kenya for say two weeks or more before they are deployed in Haiti,” a highly placed source told the Star.
The officers were expected to start arriving before the end of May but the team said some logistics are not ready.
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.
Mudavadi noted that the MSS team is guided by the rules and guidelines issued in accordance with the security deployment regulations and UN parameters.
"How they will operate, engage or behave, they are being guided by the principles and standards that they must adhere to," he said.
The Kenyan delegation found that Haiti lacks the equipment to accommodate the deployment of police officers.
The Kenyan team found that the country not only lacks armoured vehicles to move the foreign troops around, but it also faces a deficit of radios and communications equipment.
The mission still needs to procure helicopters to evacuate potential casualties from the country, where dozens of hospitals have been destroyed or looted since February 29, when gangs united to topple the government.
But the officials said they will be fully ready to deploy by mid June.
In April, President Joe Biden authorised a $60 million military aid package using what is called presidential drawdown authority to get rifles and ammunition into the hands of the Haiti National Police, and to allow the Kenya-led force to quickly deploy.
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.
Without the funds, either from the US or other countries, supporters fear the country will be facing not just a full gang take over, but a humanitarian catastrophe.
Earlier this month, members of Haiti’s newly installed transitional presidential council, tasked with putting together a new government, wrote to Ruto asking him to deploy Kenyan police.
The cops 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.
Apart from Kenya which is contributing 1,000 officers, other countries that will send officers are, Chile, Jamaica, Grenada, Paraguay, Burundi, Chad, Nigeria and Mauritius.
The 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.