The arrival of the first contingent of Kenyan police officers in the country on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, foreshadowing the start of the deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MMAS), gives us the opportunity to resume the broadcast of this series until its epilogue.
Ln Friday, January 26, 2024, we learned that a former British Condominium in the Caribbean, Belize, was preparing to train about fifty soldiers out of a total strength of 1,000 men in the army of this small state, as part of the Multinational Mission to Support Security in Haiti (MMAS). These are soldiers from the Belize Defense Force (BDF). They are trained by Canadian soldiers sent to Belize for this mission. According to the Minister of National Defense of this small island territory, Oscar Mira, ” To make sure that our soldiers are ready to deploy we are doing training in Belize. We have Canadian forces here in the country who are doing that training. We have a list of fifty soldiers that we will be training further so that we have a pool of officers from the INDF that may be deployed to Haiti. (…) There has not been a decision yet on deployment to Haiti. We want to make sure that our soldiers who will be deployed are well prepared and have everything they need when the decision is made.” Still on this same Friday, January 26, 2024, as expected, Kenya returned to the Haitian news.
The issue of the deployment of Kenyan forces in Haiti was the ” A » of the country’s media on the decision of the High Court of Nairobi. Indeed, awaited like dry land waiting for rain, the news fell like a blow to President William Ruto, impatient to see the color of the notes of the Washington currency for this operation for which his country is subcontracting. Indeed, the judge at the High Court of Justice, Enock Chacha Mwita had decided that ” The National Security Council has no mandate to deploy national police officers outside Kenya. Any other measure or action taken by a State body or official to promote such a decision, contravenes the Constitution and the law and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and invalid. Under Kenyan law, authorities can only deploy officers abroad if there is a reciprocal agreement in place with the host government.
But the case is still far from being closed and the conflict between the two powers – executive and judicial – was only just beginning. If the opposition, through the justice system, had scored a second point on the government by winning a decisive victory, it is at least provisional insofar as President William Ruto had not said his last word on the case. The same day, as soon as Judge Mwita’s verdict was announced, the Kenyan presidency reacted through its spokesperson Isaac Maigua Mwaura. The latter, in fact, had declared in the press that the government did not intend to stop there and that it intended to continue the process of deploying Kenyan police officers in Haiti. For the political authorities of Kenya, it was out of the question to accept this verdict even if they did not intend to ignore the judge’s decision.
“While the Government respects the rule of law, we have nevertheless decided to immediately challenge the High Court verdict. The Kenyan Government intends to exhaust all legal remedies at its disposal to obtain justice. The Government reiterates its commitment to honour its international obligations as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations (…) Kenya has an exceptional record of contributing to international peacekeeping missions in countries such as: South Sudan, Namibia, Croatia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, among others ” supported the Kenyan government spokesperson published on the official X account of the government on Friday, January 26, 2024.
Exactly, the same day The Star which is closely following this issue, in its edition dated January 17, 2024, had indicated that the training of the police officers to be deployed in Haiti was complete and that the latter were only waiting for the green light from the authorities who, for their part, were waiting for the decision of the High Court of Justice. According to the newspaper which quoted a government source remaining anonymous ” The Rapid Deployment Unit, Anti-Robbery Unit, General Service Unit and Border Patrol Unit teams completed their training on January 4, 2024. Officials said the group was asked to take a brief rest and await the court’s decision on their deployment. The team is now ready to deploy after rigorous training.” concluded The Star. After the verdict of the High Court of Justice in Nairobi against the sending of Kenyan troops to the other side of Africa, it was not the Haitian authorities who reacted first.
As expected, it was those in Washington who made their opinion known instead of Port-au-Prince. First, the US State Department, through its spokesperson, Matthew Miller, declared the following day, Saturday, January 27, 2024, that ” The United States’ commitment to the Haitian people remains unwavering. We reaffirm our support for ongoing international efforts to deploy a Multinational Security Support Mission to Haiti, as requested by Haiti and authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2699, and renew our calls on the international community to provide urgent support for this mission. The United States recognizes the decision of the High Court of the Republic of Kenya regarding the deployment of Kenyan police in support of the MMSS in Haiti and the stated intention of the Government of Kenya to challenge that decision.
There is an urgent need for the international community to respond to the unprecedented levels of gang violence and destabilizing forces targeting the Haitian people. At the same time, we call for the restoration of democratic order through an inclusive political process in Haiti. We continue to urge Haitian stakeholders to reach consensus on power sharing and inclusive governance. The only legitimate path to long-term peace and stability is through free and fair elections.” For his part, the United States Chargé d’Affaires in Port-au-Prince, Eric Stromayer, acting as spokesperson for the Haitian government, which undoubtedly did not expect a negative response from the Kenyan judicial authorities and therefore remained walled in a silence that speaks volumes about the unexpected shock, reacted thus on January 28, 2024 in an audio message on the embassy website. « Like many of you, we read this morning the decision of the Court of the Republic of Kenya concerning the deployment of Kenyan police officers as part of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti.
We have also seen the statement from the Kenyan government indicating its willingness to challenge this decision. The United States will continue to support ongoing international efforts to form a Multinational Support Mission to Haiti authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 2699. As Resolution 2699 emphasized, international support for the HNP is essential to combating bandits and restoring security in Haiti. We continue to encourage the international community to support the MMSS. The United States commends those countries that have publicly or privately pledged their resources, such as Antigua, the Bahamas, France, and Jamaica. (…) The United States will continue to support ongoing international efforts to form a multinational security support mission for Haiti. The international community must provide urgent support for security and stability for the Haitian people. Together, we must combat the violence that is holding Haiti back and ensure peace and security for all. » As for Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols, he was not too forthcoming about the decision.
He had simply said that « The United States remains committed to deploying a multinational security support mission.” It should be noted that the Secretary of the Cabinet of Foreign Affairs and the Kenyan Diaspora, Musalia Mudavadi, who was visiting Beijing, China on the same Friday, January 26, 2024, spoke with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the Haitian situation and the process of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti and of course returned to the decision of the Kenyan High Court of Justice relating to this mission. “It was agreed that China would continue to support the mission in Haiti as well as other peacebuilding initiatives in Africa, where Kenya is playing a leading role.” Musalia Mudavadi had declared in a statement from Beijing on Friday, January 26. Finally, forty-eight hours after the decision of Judge Enock Chacha Mwita, the Haitian authorities had finally woken up from their deep sleep and had come to their senses.
Thus, on Sunday, January 28, 2024, almost after all their partners in this Kenyan saga, through the Ministry of Culture and Communication, they issued a press release in which they basically said that they would not lose hope that the Kenyan government would find a positive outcome quickly to this issue. “The government of the Republic of Haiti is following the developments in the Kenyan case and expects a prompt and positive outcome. The Haitian government thanks President William Ruto and the Kenyan people for agreeing to provide leadership to the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MMSS). The Haitian government thanks the many countries that have come forward to offer it different types of assistance in order to restore order and security as soon as possible, in accordance with the wishes of Security Council Resolution 2699. He also thanks all those who will continue to come forward to help build lasting peace in Haiti and allow us to return to democracy,” the press release dated January 28, 2024 indicated.
In the process, we learned on Tuesday, January 30, that the transitional Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, had written to the Kenyan President, with the aim of finalizing a “Bilateral Security Agreement” between the Republic of Haiti and that of Kenya in order to allow Nairobi to comply with the Kenyan Constitution, as suggested in his indictment by Judge Enock Chacha Mwita who was speaking “Reciprocal agreement.” An approach that allowed President William Ruto to be a little more confident since, on the sidelines of an Italian-African Summit in Rome, Italy where he was taking part, the same day, he, in an interview granted to the Press Agency Reuters had confirmed that the Haitian authorities had indeed requested in writing a bilateral agreement with Kenya for several months. Responding to a question on this famous missive, William Ruto had t declared, “Absolutely. Haiti has, in fact, written officially, not today, but several months ago and that the government is working on the establishment of a Reciprocity Agreement with the Haitian government in order to unblock the situation. The mission is on track. It could therefore take place as early as next week, if all the documents are completed between Kenya and Haiti in the bilateral logic suggested by the court.”
After this verdict, which was eagerly awaited by all, there was a lot of reaction on both sides of the Haitian political spectrum, as we have seen internationally. Certainly in Haiti, this month of January 2024 was a month of high tension for the government, which was facing a national protest, a sort of “Pays lock” operation that the late President Jovenel Moïse had experienced. A political protest that had pushed the international community, through it the Core Group, a sort of association of foreign ambassadors accredited to Haiti, in particular the United States of America, to come to the rescue of a Prime Minister on the brink of the abyss.
The population was waiting day after day for the resignation of the head of the transition instead of following the process which was to lead to the arrival of the first contingents of Kenyan police and soldiers from the other states forming the coalition
On Saturday, January 27, 2024, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller was scheduled to call on the parties to agree to power-sharing and ” To the restoration of democratic order through an inclusive political process in Haiti. We continue to urge Haitian stakeholders to reach consensus on power sharing and inclusive governance. The only legitimate path to long-term peace and stability is through free and fair elections.” he advanced. On the other hand, it was the turn of the Assistant Secretary of State for Hemispheric Affairs, Brian Nichol’s, to play his little tune by flying to the aid of an Ariel Henry whose days as Prime Minister were, in reality, numbered. “We denounce the efforts of those who seek to destabilize the country ” estimated Brian Nichol’s as a form of support for the regime in place. As for the American chargé d’affaires in Port-au-Prince, Eric Stromayer, he thought that it was the “time to think about elections” while the country, as one, demanded the departure of the team in power, incapable of curbing insecurity and redressing the situation.
« We continue to call for a political process that is inclusive of all people in Haiti. The only legitimate path is through free and fair elections. Kreyòl pale, kreyòl konprann. Our commitment to the Haitian people remains strong.” Stromayer stressed on Saturday, January 27, 2024 in a press release. But, despite these avalanches of positions taken in favor of the government, the political actors of the opposition were active and were more interested in finding ways to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry who was embroiled in a socio-political and security crisis that gave him no respite. Indeed, the population was waiting day after day for the resignation of the head of the transition instead of following the process that was to lead to the arrival of the first contingents of Kenyan police officers and soldiers from other states forming the coalition whose main mission is to fight the armed groups that have seized the capital and part of the territory. Certainly, popular protest was taking precedence over this saga in which Africa, through Kenya, was the main actor.
However, even in the midst of chaos and continuous demonstrations throughout the country and mainly in the capital, some, more precisely from the active civil society, had found the time to break through to give their opinion on the delay in the deployment of the Multinational Mission for Security Support in Haiti. This is the case of the lawyer Iswick Théophin who does not really believe in the effectiveness of these military missions nor in the sincerity of the international community in really wanting to help the Haitians. If they really wanted to help us, they could have helped us remobilize our army, or at least improve the organization of the national police because we all know that the results of international military interventions are always short term.” advanced Mr. Théophin. On the other hand, for others, the arrival of this foreign force would be a good thing according to the statements of the Executive Director of the Center (Sant) Karl Levêque, Gardy Maisonneuve, apparently who was impatient to see the Kenyans arrive on Haitian soil. “Previous military interventions in Haiti were not subject to negotiations, although the current situation in the country is worse than before.
It is no surprise that I have always been pessimistic about Kenya. It has been over a year since the request was made, and they are just going around in circles. Let us take the example of 2004, when the deployment was done quickly. What we are experiencing compared to that year requires immediate intervention, we have an exaggerated increase in crime, abject precariousness, a situation of atrocious poverty, galloping insecurity, and a greater violation of human rights. The international community is slow to come and is complacent in an eternal negotiation.supported Gardy Maisonneuve during a media appearance on Saturday, January 27, 2024.
Still in the context of the reactions following the verdict of the High Court of Justice in Nairobi, concerning the decision of President William Ruto to send troops to Haiti at the request of Washington, other actors of the Civil Society considered that the verdict is questionable, even political. In any case, this is how the security expert and specialist in international relations, Ricardo Germain, who was the guest of radio, analyzed this decision Magik9 on this topic. The decision by the High Court in Nairobi, Kenya, is a political decision, as the court acted on a complaint filed by Kenyan political actors. It is also a political decision because President William Ruto has been in conflict with the judiciary since January.
The President is described as corrupt by the judiciary, which I think may have an impact on the decision. It is true that in UN Resolution 2699 the Haitian side is asked to contribute to the establishment of the mission, which certainly requires agreements. But this argument is not sufficient to prevent the deployment. This argument is false, since Article 240 of the Kenyan Constitution authorizes the National Security Council to deploy Kenyan forces in the framework of peace and security missions at the international level. Let us recall that Kenya has deployed police officers to Somalia » argued Ricardo Germain on Tuesday January 30, 2024 on the radio Magig9.
(To be continued)
