Another Haitian Prime Minister has lost his job barely a month after visiting Kenya for talks with President William Ruto. Garry Conille was fired on Sunday following a political power struggle that has plagued the war-stricken nation since gangs took over.
Conille, who was greenlit to lead the nation as prime minister in an interim capacity in May, was fired by the country’s election council.
According to the official notice published in Le Moniteur, the country's Gazette, on Sunday, November 11, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, an entrepreneur who owns a chain of dry cleaners and a former Senate candidate was selected by the transition council to replace Conille. The reasons for his firing, however, remain a mystery.
Didier Fils-Aimé is also the former president of Haiti’s Chamber of Commerce.
On October 10, Conille landed in Kenya for talks with President William Ruto following the deaths of over 70 people at the hands of the gangs in Central Haiti.
The two national leaders held bilateral talks on issues centered on the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM) which is led by Kenya. They also discussed ways of strengthening the longstanding ties between Kenya and Haiti, particularly in areas of mutual interest, including security cooperation and fostering partnerships that promote regional stability.
This situation eerily mirrors Ariel Henry’s exit from office after he visited Kenya early this year in February. Even before he left the country, there were already talks of him being blocked from re-entering Haiti after his visit, forcing him to dock in the neighbouring Puerto Rico for a while.
On March 12, Henry handed in his resignation following a crisis meeting between the 15-member Caribbean Community regional bloc known as CARICOM.
"We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and naming of an interim prime minister," stated Mohammed Irfaan Ali, the Guyana President and chairman of CARICOM.
The Prime Minister's seat will now be ushering in its third prime minister in three years since Haiti’s president was murdered in July 2021, leaving the top seat vacant for years as no elections have been conducted since.
Conille was a favourite of international communities who are the major donors of the country and he was expected to lead the country to its first national elections since the death of its president in 2021 next year.
He spoke fluent English and was seen as someone removed from traditional party politics because he had not lived in Haiti for over a decade.
