Former Uhuru CS questions rationale behind Kenya, haiti mission amid Al-Shabaab threat
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Former Defence CS Wamalwa President Ruto's motive of sending Kenyan police to Haiti amid increasing scrutiny of the deal with US
Former Defence CS Wamalwa President Ruto’s motive of sending Kenyan police to Haiti amid increasing scrutiny of the deal with US.
Former Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa has questioned the wisdom of Kenya sending troops to Haiti at a time when the country is dealing with an upsurge of the al Shabaab insurgency.
Although Wamalwa applauded the US-Kenya defense collaboration, he said it defied sense for Kenya to offer to aid Haiti in dealing with the rising instability caused by criminal gangs when the terrorists based in Somalia continue to be a threat to the nation.
“Strengthening of Kenya-US Defence cooperation framework and partnership in the war against terror, during Lloyd Austin visit, is welcome, but Kenyans are asking whether it’s in our National interest to deploy our officers to Haiti while facing resurgent al Shabaab insecurity and economic crisis,” Wamalwa said in a statement Tuesday evening.
Former CS Wamalwa remarks comes even after the government sough to clarify Kenya-US deal to deploy police to Haiti.
Under the deal, Kenya is set to deploy 1,000 police officers to Haiti as part of Multinational Security Support with the deployment expected in October should the United Nations Security Council approve the deployment.
In a statement on Tuesday, Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua said said the government has started planning logistics, required equipment and psychological preparedness for the personnel.
“We expect the UN mandate within the next few weeks. After that, we will deploy to Haiti. We have also started teaching some of our officers French as well,” the CS said.
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Kenya will receive $100 million (Sh14.7 billion) from the United States of America in support of the mission, Mutua said, assuring that no taxpayer funds will be used on the mission.
He spoke a day after his Defence counterpart Aden Duale signed the Kenya-US Defence Cooperation Framework with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.
The framework defines the collaborative role of the two countries in combating their shared security challenges.
On Tuesday, Duale accompanied Lloyd to the Kenya Navy Base in Manda which equally hosts the US Forces.
“We were pleased with the synergy exhibited by our two Forces in executing their mandates. Further, we underscored the importance of this mutual relation in fostering regional and international peace and security,” he said.
Haiti has been experiencing an upsurge in crime rates perpetrated by organised criminal gangs that have caused havoc in the country for decades.
The gangs, Chimères, have since morphed after former soldiers from the Haitian military which was disbanded under Aristide’s second period in office between 1994 to 1996, joined in.
A draft document by the US indicates that Kenya’s role in Haiti will be three-pronged; provision of operational support against gangs, guarding installations and training Haitian police.
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