Kenyan Troop Deployment to Haiti Requires Parliamentary Approval – CS Kindiki
Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has said Parliament will have a say in the deployment of about 1,000 Kenyan troops to war-torn Haiti.
Speaking during a church service in Kiambu County on Sunday, Kindiki stated that the law provides the House with powers to approve any foreign security mission and so will be the case in the Caribbean nation.
“Article 240 of the Constitution requires Parliament to approve any deployment of security officers to any peacekeeping mission. In case of deployment of our police officers to Haiti, the two chambers of Parliament will have an opportunity to approve the deployment,” he said.
The aforementioned article allows the National Security Council, through Parliament, to approve the deployment of national forces outside Kenya for regional or international peace support operations and also the deployment of foreign forces in Kenya.
Kindiki further dismissed concerns by skeptics that the mission will jeopardize security in the nation, asserting that Kenyans’ safety remains to be a priority of all security organs.
“Deployment of our security officers to Haiti will not in any compromise or undermine our commitment and responsibility to safety and security of our citizens,” noted Kindiki.
The deployment, despite receiving immense support from President William Ruto and US President Joe Biden, has been met with harsh criticism over Kenya’s capability to tame the gangs of Haiti.
Over the weekend, a video circulated widely online showed Haitians living abroad in the streets protesting the Kenyan government’s decision to send police officers to help quell the runaway gang violence.
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Opposition leader Raila Odinga has questioned why Kenya has to lead the mission, particularly when the UN Security Council had numerous African states and neighboring nations of the war-stricken country to choose from in approving the foreign security mission.
“I don’t think it is the right move. The question we should ask is why Kenya? What is so unique about Kenya that the country can be identified out of 54 African countries?” Odinga posted last Wednesday.
Other leaders among them Siaya Governor James Orengo and experts alike have expressed doubts about the mission, all arguing that the gangs might be too powerful for the troops.
Some have also raised questions over the safety of Kenyan officers, citing language barriers and a possible overwhelming by the gangs, since the main languages used in the Caribbean country are French and Haitian Creole.
On the other hand, some vocal Kenya Kwanza-allied leaders have expressed confidence in the mission, such as Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, who on Wednesday said Kenya would turn Haiti into a prosperous nation “flowing with milk and honey”.
Former Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua previously said the Kenyan troops are set to hit the ground in Port-au-Prince “in the coming months”, without specifying when.
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Armed gangs have seized control of large tracks of Haiti’s land following intersecting public health, political, and economic crises.
The country has been plunged into chaos since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 at his private residence in Port-au-Prince.
United Nations figures show that more than 2,400 people have died in violence there since the start of the year.
The security mission brings together several countries among them Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua.
Kenyan Troop Deployment to Haiti Requires Parliamentary Approval – CS Kindiki
