Kenya’s foreign minister this week gave positive signs that members of its police force may be the first ones to heed the call of the UN to assist in security operations in the fragile nation. Take a look.
The UN has been pleading for nine months for a country to step forward to help Haiti restore order. Gang violence has threatened to engulf the poorest Western nation since its President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021.
Kenya’s foreign minister said on Saturday, July 29, that its government has “accepted to positively consider” leading a force in Haiti and sending 1,000 police officers to train the Haitian National Police.
Kenya’s police officers have received millions of dollars in training and support from the U.S., EU and other partners.
Kenya’s police force has been under scrutiny for allegedly fatally shooting over 30 people in July during opposition-called protests over taxes and the rising cost of living.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Tuesday, July 1, said he spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto to thank Kenyans for the “demonstration of fraternal solidarity.”
For the month of August, the U.S. serves as president of the UN Security Council, and will soon advance a resolution to authorize a mission in Haiti led by Kenyan police.
“This is not a traditional peacekeeping force,” the U.S. ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said of the Kenyan force, who will be tasked with ‘restoring normalcy’ and protecting strategic installations in Haiti.
Other African nations like Rwanda, Ghana, and Egypt have thousands of personnel in UN peacekeeping missions. Kenya has 450 personnel serving as peacekeepers in UN missions, 32 of whom are police. The U.S. has a total of 35 personnel in UN peacekeeping missions.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Kenya for simply considering to serve.
Kenya said it will send a task force to Haiti in the coming weeks to assess the potential mission’s operational requirements.
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