- Amnesty International is among the organizations that have raised issues with the Kenya police.
- Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot on his part questioned how 1,000 police officers would manage to control 200 armed gangs.
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Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome has told off critics who have continued to cast doubts on the ability of Kenya police officers to battle Haiti gangs saying they are equal to the task.
Their level of training, in fact, Koome said is high something that has made them to be recognised globally.
He said the officers have been to many foreign countries on peacekeeping missions and have performed exemplarily.
“We have patriotic and committed officers who love their country. They are well trained and recognized worldwide,” he said during a meeting in Nairobi.
“We went to Namibia and did very well, went to Yugoslavia and our performance was exemplary. We have been to Siera Leone, and East Timor and again we did very well. We are all over the World,” said the IG.
A section of officers, he added, are also in Somalia and DRC.
Kenya intends to send 1,000 officers to the country to give back up to the Haiti National Police (HNP) estimated to be about 10,000 officers for the nation’s more than 11 million people.
Amnesty International is among the organizations that have raised issues with the Kenya police stating in a letter to the UN Security Council that the officers are likely to abuse human rights.
Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot on his part questioned how 1,000 police officers would manage to control 200 armed gangs.
"We can't disarm the Pokot, Turkana, and Samburu in the North and in villages, but we are confident we will disarm over 200 organized gangs that have taken over a country, killed a president, infiltrated security forces and armed with sophisticated weapons”? he posed.
He said deploying 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti is an ill-advised mission.
But, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a past meeting said, if need be, the officers may use a robust force to disarm and neutralize the gangs in order to restore order.
The Haiti gangs, with names in Haitian Creole such as "Kraze Barye" (Barrier-Crusher) and "Gran Grif" (Big Claw), have over the last two years been robbing, looting, extorting, kidnapping, raping and killing.
They are said to be armed with automatic weapons smuggled in mostly from the US with the gang members often out-gun the local police, sometimes burning their vehicles and stations.