Questions over Kenya’s rush to deploy police to Haiti despite Trump budget cuts

The US is the main funder of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission and recently, the United Nations (UN) said that President Trump froze $13.3 million (Sh1.7 billion) meant for the mission.

However, two days after the announcement was made, the Kenyan government still sent another 144 police officers to the country as it maintained that there were enough funds to go on with the mission to fight gangs.

Too many, too quick?

On January 19, 2025, just a day before President Trump was inaugurated, Kenya also deployed an additional 200 police officers to Haiti.

This means that in the last three weeks, Kenya has sent a total of 344 police officers to Haiti. This never happened while then US President Joe Biden was in office and there were no threats of funding cuts.

During his campaigns, then republican candidate Trump had vowed if elected, he would enforce spending cuts on projects that do not directly favor Americans.

The US had initially committed $15 million (Sh1.9 billion) to a trust fund and by the time the announcement by President Trump to freeze the remainder was made, only $1.7 million (Sh219 million) had been used. The remainder is what is frozen.

Security expert George Musamali criticised the recent deployment of additional officers to Haiti especially after President Trump froze the US kitty. He said that the Kenyan government could have waited for the 90 days imposed for a review on funding to such projects.

“The continuous deployment will only hit the Kenyan taxpayers because the government will have to ensure that the mission is ongoing,” Mr Musamali said.

Also Read: Paradox of fighting gangs in Haiti while embracing Mungiki-like tactics at home

According to him, since it’s a UN-supported mission, countries that deploy their officers to the Caribbean nation fully rely on countries that have offered to fund the mission.

'Proving a point' 

Mr Musamali, a former senior General Service Unit (GSU) officer, described the recent increase in deployment of Kenyan officers as ‘political.’

“Kenya wants to prove that it has sent the 1,000 officers it promised to Haiti. To me it is a wrong move and they should stop the deployment,” he said.

Asked whether the move to freeze the funds by President Trump was a breach of contract, the security expert said that the US government could not make such a move without going through the agreements.

“The US president must have gone through the contracts signed by Kenya and the US and also looked at those signed between the US and the UN,” he said.

Worthy cause

Mr Pius Masai, a UN security advisor on similar missions, faulted President Trump for freezing the funds.

He argued it was in order for Kenya to agree to send its officers to Haiti and they should get the support they need as per the agreement.

“I encourage the US government to support the mission since I believe that the officers are trying to restore peace in Haiti,” he said, adding that he had hoped that by the time the current budget ends, they would have gotten more financial support.

Mr Masai, who has advised the UN on similar missions in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina, said that he believed more countries would chip in and offer financial support.

Mr Wethzer Piercin, a Haiti based journalist, said that if the US totally freezes the funding of the project then things would be bad for officers who are part of the mission.

According to him, the mission needs a lot of financial help so that the officers can achieve in restoring peace in the Caribbean-based country.

“The gangs here have funds plus equipment, the only way they can be defeated is by having officers who have the same plus morale. Without this then it is going to be a great challenge,” he said.

The delay in deploying officers even saw immediate former Haiti Prime Minister Dr Garry Conille constantly ask Kenya to honor its promise and send the cops.

During this time, police officers even raised concerns about delays in payment of their salaries as they also questioned about their allowances.

On Friday, President William Ruto said that he had held a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Haiti's mission and he was assured that America had not stopped its support for the same.

In November 2024, the Treasury sought approval for an additional Sh17.7 billion to finance various programs including the Haiti mission.

However, the Kenyan government has maintained that with or without the support from President Trump-led government, the mission will go on.

Immediately after the UN announced that the funds had been frozen by the US, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said that the operations of the mission won’t be jeopardised.

“The issue of Haiti is a multi-national effort. It is not hinged on one nation and the MSS Mission is there upon the resolution of the UN. There are many countries contributing. The process is on; I have to admit that we will do better if resources were more, but that does not mean that the Haiti Mission has come to a standstill,” he said.

Equally, Mr Godfrey Otunge, who is the mission’s commander, said that restoring peace in Haiti was a priority for the US government.

“However, as part of the US administration's ongoing 90-day review of development assistance, the MSS mission continues without interruption, with all necessary mechanisms in place,” he said.

The only pending matter is the temporary suspension of the disbursement of approximately $13 million that the US contributed to the UN MSS Trust Fund, pending the overall review of development assistance,” he added.

Mr Otunge further said that the amount was less than three percent of the ongoing assistance to the mission as other contributing missions were also channeling funds towards the same.

Apart from Kenya, other countries that have sent their officers to Haiti include; Jamaica, Guatemala and El Salvador.

[email protected]