A few days after Kenya sent 400 troops to Haiti to quell violence, a section of US congressmen called upon President Joe Biden to seek alternative means of dealing with the insecurity in the Caribbean nation.
On Wednesday Michael McCaul the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Jim Risch a committee member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee questioned how Kenyan police officers would restore peace in Haiti after their conduct in quelling the recent anti-Finance Bill protests was questioned by Kenyans and human rights groups.
The politicians also questioned the capacity of Kenyan police to handle the runaway insecurity in the troubled country.
"Concern that Kenya would not have enough domestic security officers was one of the primary reasons we were opposed to the President Joe Biden administration's plan to send Kenyan police to Haiti," the two remarked in a statement.
In their dispatch, the two argued that Kenya did not have enough security officers to handle an operation of such magnitude and most importantly, record a win against the heavily armed gangs in Haiti.
"This week those fears were realized — on the same day, 400 Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti — the Kenyan Parliament was overrun by protestors."
"As a result, the Kenyan military was mobilised under the suspect constitutional authority and used live ammunition to repel the protestors, killing more than 20 civilians. The administration must find a different solution to address Haiti’s insecurity,” read a statement from the two officials.
Their remarks came as Matthew Miller, the US Department Spokesperson also addressed the concerns of Kenya's capability to deal with the Haitian gangs and restore peace.
In a press briefing, Miller was asked whether the Biden administration was concerned about speculation revolving around Kenyan police conduct in Haiti. This was in regard to the violence witnessed during the anti-finance bill protests that rocked Kenya these past few days.
Miller explained that the Kenyan troops alongside others from different countries will undergo training in accordance with UN training standards and similar to UN missions.
He added that this training will include; courses on human rights, child protection, countering sexual and gender-based violence.
Miller revealed that US has been working with the UN and other international players to establish training and ensure accountability from the troops.
"We've also worked with Kenya and other partners to integrate critically important accountability and oversight measures in accordance with the authorizing UN Security Council resolution," he added.
Kenya is expected to deploy the remaining 600 troops to Haiti in the coming days.
