DAP-Kenya party leader Eugene Wamalwa has called for the withdrawal of Kenyan police officers from Haiti, following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.
In an update on Friday, November 8, Wamalwa suggested that Kenyan officers currently stationed in Haiti should be redeployed to address critical issues at home, including rising insecurity, abductions, and femicide.
“The fate of the Haiti mission after Trump’s victory should lead to efforts for defunding the US/Kenyan-led mission and replacing it with a UN-led and -funded initiative,” Wamalwa wrote on X. “Kenyan officers should return home to tackle pressing issues like insecurity, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.”
This follows a recent phone call between President William Ruto and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during which they discussed transitioning the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti into a UN peacekeeping operation.
“I had a constructive conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken regarding the Kenya-led MSS in Haiti,” President Ruto stated. “We discussed transitioning the mission into a UN peacekeeping operation to strengthen its capability to help stabilize the region.”
“Kenya and the United States are continuously working together to enhance our collaboration to ensure improved governance. This includes the fight against corruption and provision of capacity building to make our security institutions more efficient, effective and accountable in the discharge of their mandate,” Ruto said.
The Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, an international police and military coalition, was authorized by the United Nations Security Council on October 2, 2023, to support the Haitian government in restoring stability amidst escalating gang violence.
Established under UN Security Council Resolution 2699, which passed with 13 votes in favor while China and Russia abstained, the mission is led by Kenya in close coordination with the Haitian National Police. Other contributing nations include Jamaica, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, and Chad.
Kenya’s first contingent of police officers arrived in Haiti on June 25, 2024, followed by a second deployment of 200 officers on July 16, 2024.
