At the prodding of the US government, Kenya agreed last October to lead a UN authorised international police force to Haiti, a country nearly all Kenyans cannot point on a map.
It was, therefore, curious how Kenya ended up being prodded and ultimately being given this leading role in a mission it is equipped to handle in every rational measure.
To be sure, the country does not have a dime to send our police to Haiti; rather, the inducement and sole reason President William Ruto agreed to do this, is because the UN (read US) is putting up the money needed for the mission.
That fact alone answers the question and satisfies the curiosity of why a country like Kenya will agree to lead this mission she fully knows is biting more than she can swallow, given our own problems in the country.
If you don’t know, a few men and women are salivating to eat this money big time, and without a care as to what fate lies in, wait for the Kenya police when they are sent to Haiti if that happens.
It is not clear whether this mission will be undertaken at all, as a High Court judge ruled that the decision to deploy the Kenya police to the island nation is unconstitutional.
The government appealed, and the Supreme Court may ultimately speak to this, but given how these things go, those hungry to eat will find a way to make this mission happen. Never underestimate the power of hunger for money, especially by those who don’t have it and want to have all of it before the kitty is taken away.
That’s just one of many reasons why this mission is a bad idea.
Other reasons are the unsuitability of the Kenyan police for the mission, the mission itself and the existence of alternatives.
While Kenya has participated in peacekeeping in Africa, a noble objective and involvement, the Kenya police are better known internationally for teargassing protestors during elections than combating heavily armed gangs.
The mission calls for the police sent there and others to fight a guerrilla war with heavily armed gangs who have taken over Haiti. From a layperson’s vantage point, these are unnecessary and unavoidable deaths of men and women waiting to happen.
Not worth it.
The mission itself is designed to be ramping out of gang violence that has long plagued Haiti. The latest iteration of this problem is gunmen burning police stations, closing the main international airports and raiding the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
Those hardened inmates fear nothing and certainly not the Kenyan police.
Yes, men and women who serve in any armed forces are fearless, to begin with, so their risk of harm assessment may not be your average, but even they know to take calculated risks.
The risks in this mission far outweigh any benefits to be derived from it; putting aside the benefit to those salivating to eat the money because for them, there cannot be a better lower-hanging fruit to pick.
That doesn’t mean there is nothing the international community cannot do to bring about a solution to the Haiti crisis. There is, and that starts with forcing the government in Haiti to enter into proper dialogue with the gangs.
While others can advance the argument one cannot negotiate with terrorists, that’s more a public relations statement than a rule set in stone. Countries routinely negotiate with terrorists in back channels and often achieve some success.
The gangs in Haiti may not have hijacked airplanes or taken hostages but the violence they have meted on their fellow Haitians is equally terrorising. Asked what their objectives are, one of their leaders recently told CNN all they want is to ramp out corruption in the country and institute good governance.
It’s a noble objective being pursued by the wrong means.
There is a better way to bring peace and stability to Haiti without the involvement of the Kenyan police.
Let the UN go back to the drawing board and figure it out.
It can’t be rocket science.