The Kenyan police officers who are part of the Multinational Security Mission in Haiti have reportedly expressed discouragement in their mission to clear out the gangs due to several unresolved issues.
A section of the officers who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity attributed their slow response to the gangs to pay issues and shortages of equipment and manpower.
The officers claim that they had been promised more equipment but were yet to receive the cache of weapons, a situation they said forced them to fight with limited resources.
Meanwhile, the officers while narrating their ordeal with the gangs said they regularly took heavy fire from gunmen who would position themselves in tall buildings.
However, they faced limited ability to respond to gangs' threats because their vehicles lacked armoured platforms from which officers could launch an offensive against shooters.
The officers also claimed they did not have access to radios in their vehicles to help in the seamless facilitation of the mission.
"Some people have been saying...we should just go back home and come when things are ready," commented one of the Kenyan officers.
About 400 Kenyan officers arrived in Haiti in June and July this year but despite their arrival, the mission has highly been regarded as a slow one with financial issues highlighted as the main impediment.
While the United States has so far contributed 47.5 billion in monetary assistance, equipment and services, the United Nations has only raised about 8.7 billion, leaving it over 19 billion short of the estimated 75 billion needed for the first year's operations.
"The sluggish pace of the whole process means it will be very difficult to stick to the deadlines that the transitional government has agreed," claimed International Crisis Group's Haiti analyst.
The concerns by the officers come hardly a week after the United States delivered 24 additional armoured vehicles to the Kenyan police officers in Haiti to help deal with gang violence in the Caribbean nation.
President Joe Biden’s administration revealed it delivered the mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) MaxxPros to Port-au-Prince through its Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft.
Joe Biden's government also dispatched 34 Overhead Gunner Protection Kits, or "turrets," to help the Kenyan officers in their operations against the gangs.
