Africa

Kenya vows to fight court ruling barring police deployment to Haiti

The National Police Service during a passing-out parade. (Photo: File)

By Agency and Issa Hussein | Friday, January 26, 2024

Citing the cases of South Sudan, Namibia, Crotia, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Government Spokesman Isaac Mwaura noted that Kenya has an outstanding track record of contributing to peacekeeping missions internationally.

The Kenyan government has vowed to challenge a court ruling against its decision to send a police force to Haiti to help combat gang violence.

In the High Court ruling on Friday, Judge Enock Chacha Mwita said the deployment contravenes the constitution and the law and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and invalid.

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The government, through Spokesman Issack Mwaura, responded in a statement, saying, "While the government respects the rule of law, we have made the decision to challenge the High Court's verdict forthwith."

Citing the cases of South Sudan, Namibia, Croatia, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Mwaura noted that Kenya has an outstanding track record of contributing to peacekeeping missions internationally.

He said the government reiterates its commitment to honouring its international obligations as a member of the community and comity of the nation.

Kenya was ready to send up to 1,000 personnel to Haiti in response to its government's appeal for international help to confront violence that has left about 5,000 dead.

The UN Security Council approved the mission early last October and the offer was welcomed by the United States and other nations that had ruled out putting their forces on the ground.

The government will face a long fight as promised by Ekuru Aukot, the opposition politician who challenged the deployment.

"We will still be waiting for them at the court of appeal, and we will go all the way to the Supreme Court. They should be thanking me for saving the government this embarrassment," he told AFP.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has called on the government to respect the High Court decision. Amnesty underscored the need for constitutional grounding in future missions and urged authorities to implement measures ensuring a human rights-based deployment.

Earlier, Kenya's ambassador to the United Nations, Martin Kimani said that "significant progress" had been made in preparations towards the mission, which had parliamentary approval. In the face of criticism, President William Ruto had described the Kenyan undertaking as a "mission for humanity" and one in step with its long record of contributing to peacekeeping missions abroad.

War zone

Haiti's foreign minister on Thursday pleaded for the deployment to be speeded up, telling the UN Security Council that gang violence in the country was as barbaric as the horrors experienced in war zones.

"The Haitian people cannot take any more. I hope this time is the last time I will speak before the deployment of a multinational force to support our security forces," Jean Victor Geneus told the council.

Gangs now run rampant in large swathes of the country and homicides in Haiti more than doubled last year to nearly 4,800 murders, according to a UN report released Tuesday.

The multinational mission -- initially approved for one year -- had envisioned Kenyan police on the offensive with their Haitian counterparts, who are outnumbered and outgunned by gang members.

Haiti, the Western hemisphere's poorest nation, has been in turmoil for years, with armed gangs taking over parts of the country and unleashing brutal violence, and the economy and public health system in tatters.

The 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise plunged the country further into chaos. No elections have taken place since 2016 and the presidency remains vacant.

Additional reporting by AFP