Kenyan President William Ruto announced on Friday that his country will send an additional 600 police officers to Haiti next month, reinforcing the international anti-gang mission amid recent violent attacks. The announcement came during a visit by Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, aimed at expediting deployments to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) force.
The Kenyan-led MSS, authorized by the United Nations, has struggled to gain momentum since its inception in June. While at least 10 countries have pledged a total of about 2,900 troops, only around 430 have been deployed so far, with nearly 400 of those coming from Kenya.
This expansion comes as Haiti faces escalating gang violence. Last week, members of the Gran Grif gang carried out one of the country’s deadliest recent attacks, killing at least 115 people in a farming region, according to local authorities.
Despite the challenges, President Ruto expressed optimism about the mission’s progress, stating, “The battle that we can win.” He confirmed that the additional 600 Kenyan officers are currently in training and will be ready for deployment next month.
Prime Minister Conille praised the rapid response of the Kenyan contingent to last week’s massacre, noting their quick deployment to protect the affected area.
The security crisis in Haiti has led to the displacement of over 700,000 people, with more than five million facing hunger – nearly half the population, according to UN reports.
Last month, the UN Security Council unanimously authorized extending the MSS’s mandate for another year. However, a U.S. proposal to transform it into a UN peacekeeping mission was dropped due to opposition from Russia and China.
