RUTO aende mwenyewe! Several Kenyan Police officers develop cold feet as they opt out of Haiti deployment deal

 

Friday March 8, 2024 – President William Ruto’s deal to send 1000 police officers to Haiti to quell the gang violence seem to be falling apart.

This is after an undisclosed number of Kenyan police officers developed cold feet and opted out of the deployment mission to Haiti.

According to BBC report, the officers cited concerns about their safety amid ongoing gang raids in the Caribbean nation.

Numerous Kenyan police officers who had initially volunteered for the deployment have opted out due to safety apprehensions.

In an interview with the broadcasting corporation, one officer highlighted the lack of clarity regarding the mission's execution plans, expressing uncertainty about the mechanisms put in place.

Citing the recent rise in gang violence in Haiti, another officer stated that he and his squad withdrew from the mission, which was not a mandatory deployment. 

He further added that the team was asked to apply for the mission voluntarily, to help restore peace in Haiti as part of their service to humanity. 

The unrest in Haiti intensified on March 3, following assaults by a notorious gang leader, commonly known as Barbecue, on the nation's primary airport.

Barbecue vowed to obstruct Prime Minister Ariel Henry's return to the country.

The gangs in Port-au-Prince, further taking advantage of Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s absence, unleashed a series of coordinated attacks, rendering more people homeless as they scampered for safety. 

Henry, who flew to Kenya on February 29, formalized the deployment deal with Ruto on March 1, where the Cabinet Secretary for Interior Kithure Kindiki and Haiti's security minister signed the agreement. 

The Kenyan DAILY POST