A second batch of Kenyan police officers on Monday left the country for Haiti as part of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) approved by the United Nations.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), a French international news agency, the officers left the country on Monday night and were expected to touch down in Haiti on Tuesday.
A senior police officer who spoke to AFP disclosed the well-trained contingent of 200 officers was expected to join their colleagues who are currently manning the streets of Port-au-Price, Haiti's capital.
"We have 200 police officers who left last night, they should land in their destination of Haiti this morning," a senior police officer linked to the mission told AFP.
"They are joining their colleagues who are already on the ground,” the office added.
Sources privy to the information also disclosed the team left the country aboard a United Nations chartered flight and were seen off by Deputy Inspector General Administration Police Service, Noor Gabow.
Their departure comes hardly a month after another similar cohort jetted to the Caribbean nation to help quell the gang violence that has ravaged the country.
The latest development also comes against the backdrop of Haiti's Interim Prime Minister Garry Conille's call for the deployment of more Kenyan officers to the war-torn nation.
While confirming the request, former Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome revealed Conille made the plea during a security brief to the UN Security Council meeting held in early July.
Koome had also disclosed that Conille had promised his government’s unwavering support for the Kenyan police officers deployed in Haiti.
“The Prime Minister called for the deployment of additional Kenyan police officers in Haiti, expressing his optimism that the Multinational Security Support (MSS) team will control the gangs,” IG Koome had stated.
Kenya is expected to be joined by at least eight countries in the peacekeeping mission that was ratified by the United Nations on October 2023.
