Where has gone the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMSS) deployed sparsely in Haiti to support the Police and the Army in their ongoing fight against insecurity? This question has been on everyone’s lips for about a week in Haiti in a context where armed gangs reign as “masters” and “lords”. Is MMSS missing?
THE HAITI FACTOR, November 17, 2024._The presence of Kenyan, Jamaican and Bahamian police officers deployed in Haiti through the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMSS) seems not to be useful to the country.
While several neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince have been facing an escalation of violence from armed bandits of “viv ansanm” since October 17, 2024, no one has heard from them, or even from their concrete actions taken alongside forces armies of Haiti to thwart the gangs in the abuses against the population.
However, recently, the Commander-in-Chief of the Multinational Security Support Mission, Godfrey Otunge, in an interview with “The Voice of America” warned the Haitian armed gangs that their days are now numbered.
His statement appears to have served as a boost for gangsters to further defy state authority and attack several peaceful neighborhoods, despite the presence of more than 400 Kenyans, 22 Jamaicans and 6 Bahamians in Haiti.
It’s déjà vu, because a month after the start of their cheap deployment, Kenyan police officers expressed their reluctance to participate in muscular operations aimed at dismantling gang centers, albeit aboard armored vehicles.
This is the case in Solino and Bél’Air where the cowardice of these Africans was denounced by local notables, also highlighting a lack of commitment and willingness of Kenyans to accompany the police and soldiers of the Army. ‘Haiti inside areas controlled by gangsters.
At the same time, they resented the delay in the payment of their monthly salary.
Despite everything, the Kenyan press continues to praise the achievements of the Kenyans deployed in Haiti, although they are the work of Haitian police officers, notably the anticipated takeover of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti (HUE ), the opening of the port of Port-au-Prince and the operation carried out in the stronghold of gang leader Vitelhomme Innocent resulting in the death of at least 20 bandits.
The last time we heard about the MMSS in Haiti was a month ago, that is to say during the deployment of a few Kenyans in Pont-Sondé, in Saint-Marc, in the Department of Artibonite , after the attack by the Savien “gran grif” gang which left more than 110 dead and several dozen seriously injured.
Remember that last week, the OAS said it supported the idea of the Haitian Government to transform the MMSS into a peacekeeping operation mission under the aegis of the UN for better financing.
Meanwhile, Bahamian authorities are allowing their troops deployed in Haiti to return home if they feel threatened by the resurgence of insecurity ravaging the country.
THE HAITI FACTOR (LFH)
