A new team of 600 police officers to be sent to Haiti graduated Friday ahead of planned deployment later this month.
The team includes all female Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, on November 8, 2024, officially closed the Multinational Security Support Mission to Haiti Course at the National Police College Embakasi 'A' Campus.
The 600 officers drawn from the General Service Unit (GSU), Anti Stock Theft Unit, Rapid Deployment Unit and the all-female SWAT are now ready for deployment in the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) aimed at restoring peace and stability in Haiti.
Kenya has already deployed the first batch of about 400 police officers in Haiti.
This came as President William Ruto said he held a telephone conversation with US president-elect Donald Trump over the Kenya police-led Haiti Mission.
“I congratulated him following his election as the 47th President of the United States of America. We discussed areas of mutual interest that are of benefit to the citizens of our two countries, including trade and investment, security and good governance.”
“I briefed President Trump on the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti and possible areas of cooperation with the US government on this important conflict resolution initiative,” he said.
Officials said they had realized there is a need for female police officers to be deployed in the Caribbean nation in efforts to stabilize it from criminal gangs. They will help in handling female suspects and other gender-related cases.
The team underwent pre-deployment training ahead of the planned deployment. They will join other personnel who are already on the ground.
Together with the SWAT team, these are paramilitary units with wide combat training. SWAT is the newest police unit in the country and is from the Administration Police Service.
Insiders say they are some of the best-trained officers in street urban combat.
An assessment team is set to be sent to Haiti to give a report before they are deployed.
The team is among those that met visiting Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille at the Administration Police Training Campus in Embakasi last month.
Kenya will send 600 more police officers to Haiti this month to bolster an international anti-gang mission Ruto said during a visit by the Haitian prime minister intended to speed up deployments to the force.
At least 10 countries have promised to send a total of about 2,900 troops to participate in the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS).
But only about 430 have deployed since the U.N.-authorised mission got underway in June, nearly 400 of them from Kenya.
Ruto said the mission was improving security in Haiti, calling the fight against gangs "the battle that we can win".
He said the additional 600 officers committed by Kenya were in training and would be ready for duty next month. Over 700,000 people in Haiti have fled their homes and over five million are going hungry - nearly half the population, according to the United Nations.
Last month, the U.N. Security Council unanimously authorised extending the MSS's mandate by another year.
A US push for a plan to turn it into a UN peacekeeping mission was dropped from the resolution due to opposition from Russia and China. So far, the mission has made little progress helping Haiti restore order with only about 400 mostly Kenyan police officers on the ground.
Haiti is reeling after members of the Gran Grif gang stormed through the town of Pont-Sonde in the western Artibonite region early on October 3, killing at least 115 people, including infants, and forcing over 6,000 residents to flee.
The massacre caused widespread shock even in a country that has grown accustomed to outbreaks of violence, and where the national police force is outgunned and understaffed.
The UN-authorised mission that is led by Kenya faces a funding inadequacy as member states who committed to contribute Sh10.8 billion (Usd84 million) have so far contributed Sh8.6 billion (Usd67 million).
This has delayed many plans on the ground. The said contributions from member states have been made through the UN Trust Fund for the MSS.
The mission is expected to comprise up to 2,500 police personnel, deployed in phases, at an annual cost of approximately Usd600 million.
