Kenya’s parliament has authorized the deployment of 1000 police personnel to Haiti as part of a UN Security Council-approved peacekeeping operation.
The National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security and the Senate’s Standing Committee on National Security, Defense, and Foreign Relations both approved the mission, which will send Kenyan troops to the Caribbean nation next year to restore combat gangs that have largely overrun the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Police Inspector General Japhet Koome stated before the joint committee on November 9, 2023, that the Kenyan force would be sent in phases and that a selection process has been conducted to determine the officers who will participate in the operation.
Kithure Kindiki, the Interior Cabinet Secretary, also testified before the House committee, outlining the expense of the Haiti expedition.
Kindiki informed MPs that the deployment of Kenya’s 1000 troops would cost $241,390,961 (Ksh. 36,570,730,591), which would be funded by UN member states. The expedition, which would include troops from other nations, will cost $600 (Ksh.91 billion).
“Unless all resources are mobilised and availed, our troops will not leave the country. They will not leave Kenyan soil until the equipment required on the ground in Haiti is in place,” Kindiki told the joint committee.
The United Nations Security Council has authorized Kenya’s Multinational Security Support mission.
Other countries interested in assisting include the Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda.
