Kenya holds off sending police to Haiti after PM's resignation

Kenya is suspending the deployment of 1,000 police officers to spearhead an international security mission in Haiti.
Eleven days ago, an agreement was signed to fast-track the much-delayed deployment of Kenyan police.
Kenya said it was pausing the deployment after Minister Ariel Henry resigned overnight and would re-evaluate once a new Haitian government was in place.

Eleven days ago, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and Kenyan President William Ruto signed an agreement meant to fast-track the much-delayed deployment of Kenyan police officers aimed at addressing the escalating violence in the Caribbean nation, Reuters reported.

"(Whether we deploy) is contingent on the ground situation, and the critical ground situation is that there has to be an authority that can be the basis for a police deployment, that enjoys constitutional authority in Haiti," Abraham Korir Sing'Oei, the principal secretary at the foreign ministry, said.

Reacting to the Kenyan announcement, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters: "We would be concerned of course about any delay (in the deployment), but we don't think that there will need to be a delay.

"If you look at what the Kenyan government said in its statement is that they have to have a government with which to collaborate, which has been an important part of their understanding. It's a perfectly natural thing to expect," he added.

Kenya's Haiti plans

The abrupt change in plans casts a shadow over the fate of a multinational mission for Haiti, adding to a series of developments that had already raised doubts about the mission's success.

Kenya initially committed 1,000 officers to head an international security force in July, but legal challenges have stalled the initiative since then. This legal entanglement has effectively delayed the mission, to which half a dozen other countries have also committed personnel.

In January, a Kenyan judge ruled the government's intention to deploy officers unlawful without a reciprocal agreement with the host country.

While Kenya's government reached an agreement with Prime Minister Henry, which it believed addressed the judge's concerns, the security situation in Haiti worsened.

Abraham Korir Sing'Oei, the principal secretary at the foreign affairs ministry, said a future decision on whether to deploy would depend on the situation on the ground.

"There has to be an authority that can be the basis for a police deployment - that enjoys constitutional authority in Haiti," he said.