Anglican Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit has condemned a plan by President William Ruto to deploy Kenyan police officers to Haiti.
In the move that has caused a lot of debate in the country, Ole Sapit argued that the push to send police officers to the Caribbean country was a misplaced priority.
"It doesn't make sense to send troops to Haiti when we have insecurity problems across the country, and especially in the North Rift,
" We request that as the government sends troops to Haiti, they should also have better security across Kenya," said Ole Sapit.
The deployment has faced fierce pushback from Kenya’s opposition lawmakers, human rights groups, and the legal fraternity, but Ruto has remained steadfast.
Opponents of the move accuse Ruto’s government of failing to secure Kenya, arguing that the country is part of the initiative only for monetary gains.
They also say Kenya is deploying Police Officers to Haiti yet it is against the constitution, which states that only the military should be sent to such assignments.
Speaking on a joint podium with US President Joe Biden in Washington, President William Ruto defended the move, saying Kenya is a benevolent distributor of what humanity needs.
Ruto also said that he was committed to ending the banditry menace in the North Rift Kenya after he deployed 3,000 military personnel and 2,000 police officers to the restive region.
"I committed to the people of Kenya to sort out insecurity in the North Rift. I have followed that with action. As we speak there are 3,000 military officers and 2,000 police officers in the North Rift. We have also renovated 15 schools and reopened 20 schools that were closed. The exercise is still ongoing," said Ruto during his tour of the United States.
The Sead of State emphasised the need for securing Kenya's borders and lending a helping hand to her allies far and beyond.
A troop of 1,000 police officers from Kenya was expected to fly to gang-ridden Port-au-Prince in Haiti on May 23, but the flight was delayed.
Officers to be sent to the troubled Caribbean nation will be drawn from the elite Recce squad, Rapid Deployment Force and Special Operation Group.
