Kenyan officers in Haiti start receiving equipment
Kenyan police and Haitian National Police SWAT units patrol streets in armoured vehicles, in Port-au-Prince on June 28, 2024
Kenyan police officers on an international mission in Haiti have begun receiving equipment as plans to help restore peace in the Caribbean country move into top gear, the Nation has learnt.
The officers received a consignment of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) on Saturday courtesy of the United States government.
“More APCs arrived on Sunday (yesterday), and we shall be receiving additional equipment,” a source privy to the matter said. The Nation is also in possession of exclusive images showing the arrival of the equipment.
In other images, the officers are seen having a meal at a fully equipped cafeteria and also inside a laundry which is fully stocked with machines where they wash their clothes.
Plans are still underway to have more officers deployed to the country.
Kenyan officers alongside their Haitian colleagues have been patrolling Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince.
On Friday last week, images of Kenyan police officers standing outside the US Embassy in Haiti attracted condemnation with a section of social media users saying that the Kenyan officers were being tasked with manning the premises.
However, this was dismissed by our source as untrue.
“On that day, senior Kenyan police officers were having a meeting with US officials. So the officers captured on the images were just providing security as the meeting went on,” said the source.
Last week, a senior official who is also part of the United Nations-funded Multinational Security Support Mission said there are a number of things that need to be worked on before more officers are deployed to Haiti.
The source said that construction of the camp where the officers will stay was still ongoing. In addition, the US is supposed to give the officers more equipment that they will use during the mission.
“Internet as well is another issue; we need to ensure that the officers are in constant communication with their families back at home,” said the source.
On Thursday last week, on a day the US celebrated its Independence Day, Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conille lauded what he termed as a strong bond between his country and America, pledging to ensure even stronger ties for their mutual benefit.
This was after he held a series of meetings in the US in relation to the deployment of Kenyan officers to Haiti. He met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and other officials from the White House.
Apart from Kenya, other countries that have committed to deploying their police officers to Haiti include; Benin, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Algeria, Canada, France, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
The Nation has learnt that Mr Jimmy Cherizier alias Barbecue, who leads a gang called Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies has called for dialogue. Addressing journalists at a press conference in Haiti, Barbecue said negotiating with the gangs was the best way to entrench peace.
Dressed in a flashy red suit and white shirt, he accused Mr Conille of standing in the way of dialogue.
"The real solution is a national dialogue where every Haitian without discrimination has the right to speak," said Barbecue, a former police officer. His calls for dialogue have, however, been rebuffed by the Prime Minister, who has demanded that the gangs lay down their arms as a condition for the talks. He has also insisted that those who masterminded atrocities must face the law.
A number of gang members are reported to have fled to the Dominican Republic while others have surrendered to the authorities.
