By Aaron Ross
NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenya has said its police officers will soon be in Haiti to confront armed groups vying for control of the capital, but worsening insecurity and uncertainty about financing are casting doubt on the mission’s prospects.
Kenya’s government, which first pledged to lead an international security mission last July, says it is ready to deploy after it signed an agreement with Haiti’s government on March 1 meant to address a ruling by a domestic judge who deemed the existing plan unlawful.
The United States and other powers are pushing for a swift deployment of Kenyan officers, seen as a prerequisite to allowing a half-dozen other African and Caribbean countries to also send security forces.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been unable to return to Haiti because of escalating violence since he signed the deal in Kenya. The unelected leader announced overnight he would resign once a transition council and temporary replacement have been appointed.
Kenya’s army has previously been sent to countries, including Somalia, but its police officers have never been deployed in such large numbers and, for Nairobi, thorny issues remain to be worked out.
“The deteriorating security situation is likely to force a rethink in Nairobi,” said Murithi Mutiga, the program director for Africa at the International Crisis Group think-tank.
“The state seems to be crumbling from within and the security situation is much worse than when Kenya offered to lead the mission.”
Kenya’s presidency and government did not respond to requests for comment.
One major challenge, according to diplomats with knowledge of the matter, is financing. A U.N. spokesperson said that as of Monday, less than $11 million had been deposited into the U.N.’s dedicated trust fund.
The United States has pledged $300 million to support the mission. The Department of Defense’s contribution of $200 million is already approved by Congress, a senior State Department official said.
The State Department pledged $100 million, the official said, adding that the administration is working with Congress on approval of $40 million of it.
The State Department official said the money pledged by the U.S. would not necessarily go to the UN trust fund but would instead be used for things such as equipment for the force.
PAID UPFRONT
Kenya has asked to be paid the costs of the deployment upfront, but U.N. rules require that funds it administers be used only to reimburse costs already incurred, according to a diplomat based in Nairobi and U.N. officials.
Kenya would therefore need to find a country willing to pay it directly, said the diplomat and U.N. officials who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
It was not clear whether the U.S. money could cover some or all of the Kenyan government’s requests. Kenya has pledged 1,000 officers to a mission that experts expect to have up to 5,000 personnel.
Addressing reporters on Monday, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said Kenya was in the pre-deployment stage.
“There was a small court matter and that has been resolved,” he said.
A High Court judge ruled in January that the government’s plan was unlawful because there was no “reciprocal agreement” with the host country.
Although the government believes the March 1 agreement addressed the judge’s concerns, the Kenyan opposition politician who spearheaded the lawsuit has vowed to launch a new challenge. He argues that the unelected Henry did not have the legal authority to enter into such an arrangement for Haiti.
Meanwhile, the surging violence over the past week in Port-au-Prince, where armed groups besieged the international airport and released thousands of prisoners, has deepened concerns in Kenya about the wisdom of the mission.
Opposition politicians, already critical of the mission as too dangerous and not in Kenya’s national interests, have stepped up their criticism.
Opiyo Wandayi, the minority leader in the National Assembly, warned last week of immense losses. Makau Mutua, a prominent law professor, said Kenyan officers would be “sitting ducks”.
Enock Alumasi Makanga, a former police officer and the national chairman of the Protective and Safety Association of Kenya, told Reuters that Kenyan police lacked the training and equipment to carry out such a mission.
The situation in Haiti “is beyond what our guys can do,” he told Reuters.
Kenyan officials have said that the highly-trained paramilitary officers were well prepared for the challenges.
Kenyan President William Ruto has said the mission is a “bigger calling to humanity” motivated by solidarity with a brother nation. Haiti’s prime minister requested an international force in October 2022, but foreign governments were reluctant to participate.
Many Haitian communities and observers are wary of international interventions after previous U.N. missions left behind a devastating cholera epidemic and sex abuse scandals, for which reparations were never made.
(Reporting by Aaron Ross; Additional reporting by David Lewis, Duncan Miriri and Giulia Paravicini in Nairobi, Michelle Nichols in New York, and Daphne Psaledakis, Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington, editing by Ed Osmond)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.