Hundreds of Kenyan police officers have been training since late last year to embark on the deployment of a lifetime: helping lead a multinational force tasked with quelling gang-fueled lawlessness in Haiti.
The deployment has divided the East African nation from the beginning. This sparked intense debate in parliament and among officials in at least two ministries over whether Kenya should lead such a mission.
Courts also sought to block the deployment, while activists and human rights groups, citing a history of abuse and unlawful killings by Kenyan police, strongly denounced it.
But the plan received unwavering support from its chief advocate, President William Ruto of Kenya, who said responding to the worsening crisis in the Caribbean nation was a call to “serve humanity.”
Now, months after finishing their training, the Kenyan officers were called back this week to prepare to leave for Haiti, according to interviews with several police officers who are part of the planned deployment. Officials said they had not been given a precise date but anticipated they would arrive in Haiti this month.
Their expected departure comes as the United States, which is largely funding the plan, steps up its efforts on the ground in preparation for the multinational force’s arrival in Haiti, including building a base of operations at the country’s main airport.
The impending deployment comes as Ruto prepares for an official state visit to President Biden on May 23, which will provide a brief distraction from a host of domestic challenges, including deadly floods, mounting debt and a major scandal over subsidies. the fertilizers.
The international mission is expected to be made up of 2,500 members, led by 1,000 Kenyan police officers. The rest of the deployment will come from more than half a dozen countries that have committed to providing additional personnel.
With Kenyan police officers expected to be the first to arrive in Haiti, some security experts have questioned their willingness to support Haiti’s beleaguered police and confront the well-armed and highly organized Haitian gangs that have taken over control of much of Puerto Rico. Prince, the capital.
“This is new territory for Kenyan forces,” said Murithi Mutiga, director of the International Crisis Group’s Africa program.
Although the security officers chosen for the mission are some of the best trained in Kenya, he said they will “essentially venture down an unknown path where the risks remain considerable.”
Haitian gang leaders have vowed to fight the deployment, raising concerns of even worse violence in a country where thousands of people have been killed in recent months and more than 350,000 have fled their homes in the past year.
The United Nations-backed mission has remained in limbo since March, when Kenya said it would suspend the effort after the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry of Haiti. The gangs had taken over the Port-au-Prince airport, preventing Henry from returning home after a trip abroad.
After a new government council was formed in Haiti in April, Ruto said he was ready to move forward with the plan.
Ruto’s critics have accused him of illegally continuing the deployment and failing to publish a document stipulating how Kenyan forces can operate in Haiti. They also plan to file another legal challenge accusing his administration of contravening previous court orders regarding the mission.
Kenyan government officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Millie Odhiambo, a Kenyan lawmaker who sits on parliament’s defence, intelligence and foreign affairs committee, said Ruto should deploy agents to her country to crack down on criminals and terrorists wreaking havoc in some parts of the country.
Given the intense level of violence in Haiti, he also questioned the government’s decision to send in the police instead of the army.
“This mission is a death trap,” he said.
Legal and political obstacles to the mission have frustrated Kenyan police officers who have been waiting for months to go to Haiti.
Officers interviewed for this story, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly to reporters, said hundreds of officers attended the selection process last October.
About 400 officers were chosen for the first deployment and began their training, with an additional 100-member support staff including medics. Another group of similar size would also be preparing to deploy soon, they said.
The officers were drawn from Kenya’s General Service Unit and the Administrative Police, two paramilitary units tasked with dealing with everything from riots and cattle rustling to protecting the borders and the president.
The officers said they received physical and weapons training from Kenyan and American security personnel and were given details about how Haitian gangs operate.
They also took French classes and lessons on human rights and Haitian history. Police officers said they were aware of previous failed international interventions in Haiti. But they argued that Haitians had largely seen those interventions as occupying forces, while their goal is to support local police and protect civilians.
In addition to the prestige that comes with serving overseas, officers said the extra pay that comes with their service is another motivation.
The normal salary for these Kenyan officers is $350 a month, an amount that a national task force recommended last year increase by 40 percent. Meanwhile, with families to support and loans to pay off, officials said they were in debt and couldn’t make ends meet.
Some officers said it was unclear how much more they would be paid once they were in Haiti and, if the worst happened and they were killed, what compensation their families would receive.
For now, regional experts say Kenya’s President Ruto faces the daunting challenge of pressing ahead with an intervention fraught with risks. Crisis Group’s Mutiga said the government has not done enough to explain the mission’s objectives to Kenyans.
“Given that Kenya is a relatively open society, this is a political risk on the part of the Ruto administration,” Mutiga said. “If there are a lot of casualties, it could be politically problematic.”