Former police officer Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, and leader of an alliance of armed groups, speaks to a news outlet on a mobile phone during a news conference, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 11, 2024.
Notorious Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, popularly known as Barbecue, is leading a public outcry that Kenyan officers in the Caribbean nation are ruthless.
The former policeman says in a TikTok video that Kenyan officers, alongside those serving in the Haitian National Police (HNP), stormed his base and fired bullets and tear gas at his gang members.
“The police didn’t stop, they even came almost to the place that I was shooting and also used teargas canisters,” he said.
Kenyan officers in Haiti have been accused in the past of not coming out of their base in Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti.
However, Kenyan officers who spoke to the Nation said they had carried out a series of raids and engaged the gang members.
“We have reclaimed a hospital, which was being run by the gang members and in some areas the gangs have been wiped out,” said an officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Additional resources
A Kenyan police officer walks in front of an armoured personnel carrier during a joint operation with Haitian police, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti July 29, 2024.
US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said this week that it was important to make sure that the officers had the resources they needed.
“We want to make sure that the mission has the resources that it needs to do the job as effectively as possible. And so we’re looking at additional personnel contributions,” he said.
According to him, in addition to Kenya, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Italy, Spain, Mongolia, Senegal, Belize, Suriname, Guatemala and Peru, other countries are being asked to send officers to Haiti.
He said it was vital to ensure that officers in the Caribbean nation received their salaries on time.
“We have some money in the bank to do that, including through the United Nations (UN) fund that’s been established. But as we’re looking at growing the MSS mission itself, we also have to figure out what’s going to be required to pay for that, and I think we’re going to need more funding to do that,” he said.
“That’s exactly why I’m bringing together colleagues at the UN General Assembly on the margins of that, just to make sure that we are properly resourcing it.”
On July 7, Kenyan police officers started receiving equipment that they will be using in Haiti, including Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) vehicles.
An APC is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones.
“More of the APCs arrived on Sunday and each day for the next 10 days we shall be receiving more equipment,” a source privy to the matter told the Nation.
Apart from Kenya and Jamaica, other countries that have pledged to send officers to Haiti include Benin, the Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Algeria, Canada, France, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Spain.
In June, President William Ruto flagged off the first batch of Kenyan police officers to Haiti.
Before the Kenyan officers left for Haiti, gang leader Jimmy Cherizier alias Barbecue sent a stern warning that his gangs would fight them.
But since the officers arrived, he has held two press conferences calling for dialogue, saying they were ready to negotiate with the government.
Haiti's prime minister has ignored the calls for dialogue, demanding that the gangs hand over all weapons in their possession.
