When Kenya stepped forward to lead the multinational security support mission in Haiti, it showed the country's emerging foreign policy approach and interest in strengthening and stamping its leadership presence not only regionally but globally.
Most leading roles in the international scene had been left to developed nations in the past which have reaped heavily through reciprocal agreements with host countries besides building a reputation as dependable allies.
The challenges facing Haiti are of dire humanitarian consequences. Majority of Haitians felt lost and abandoned by the world when the High Court of Kenya ruled against the deployment of the National Police Service to lead the United Nations Security Council-approved multinational security support in Haiti.
The little hope they had of a brotherly African country coming to help restore law and order diminished into the rising black smoke from gangs laying siege to the city.
The court directed the executive that deployment of the police outside the country can only happen through a “reciprocal arrangement” and if Haiti is a reciprocating country.
The announcement by President William Ruto on his visit to Italy that Kenya would follow the court directive in formalising reciprocal agreements between the two countries reassured the Haitian people. But they are worried about the delayed deployment, as the gangs bolster their defences and continue to cause suffering to thousands of Haitians.
Haiti has not held an election in eight years. Apart from the interim Prime Minister, a neurosurgeon by profession, the senate and parliament are but empty seats. Parliamentary elections were supposed to take place in 2019 but were rescheduled to early 2021 and then postponed again to September 2021 and pushed to a general election on November 7, 2021, which never happened.
It is impossible to have an elected legitimate government in Haiti without an international force to restore order and ensure a peaceful election and transition process. And this is why the Kenya-led mission is the only way out for the western hemisphere's gang-dominated nation.
The country has never recovered from catastrophic earthquakes that followed each other simultaneously since 2010 and gangs have taken over all economic areas and unleashed brutal violence against its citizens, taking down the entire system.
Theoretically, the departure of interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry as per the Montana political accord signed in 2022 was on February 7, 2024. This date is important to Haitian people and anchored in Haitian history as the end of the Haitian Duvalier dictatorship in 1986.
According to the Montana accord, Henry was to organise elections and hand over power on February 7, 2024, to the new president-elect and his government. Several months down the line this has not been realised because of the worsening security situation.
Nearly 5,000 homicides were documented by the United Nations in 2023 from unprecedented gang violence. More than double compared to the year 2022. All the while, the presidency is still vacant.
Haitian police are outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and outgunned. They must have an international force to boost their morale, numbers, training and operational strategies, and give them respite from the non-retreating gangs to regroup, refocus and rebuild.
Their numbers are declining by the day. Haitian National Police currently is comprised of less than 15,000 officers. Over 1,600 officers left the force last year. The gangs are adapting and inventing new methods like the use of Molotov cocktails, laying ambush on police, and even reinforcing defensive barriers in their bases to make it difficult for Haitian police to conduct operations.
Some gangs have been parading in police uniform in broad daylight. It is estimated that about 45 police stations are under the control of gangs, some are burnt or destroyed.
A growing worry is a clash between the Haitian National Police and agents of the Protected Areas Brigade (BSAP). Both are armed government institutions. Recently the government banned BSAP agents from carrying their arms because of their affiliation with former senator and rebel leader Guy Philippe who until a few weeks ago was in US prison for money laundering and drug trafficking.
Without urgent intervention from the international community, there are high chances of a rebellion group forming, thereby making the complex situation unattainable and a risk of civil war.
Founder & CEO of Comcop, a safety, security and risk management organisation
