Kenyan Police in Haiti Face New Wave of Protests as Citizens Call for Resignation of Top Leadership

by Ken Muthomi on Monday, 5 May 2025 - 12:31 pm

Kenyan police officer during an operation in Haiti on July 17, 2024.

Photo

AP

Despite Kenya sending hundreds of police officers to Haiti and leading the MSS mission, there is not much that has changed in the troubled Caribbean nation, and now the troops have to contend with a fresh wave of protests.

On Sunday, May 5, residents of the South American nation staged another round of protests in the country's capital, calling for the resignation of the country's top leadership, including the Prime Minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, and the transnational presidential council.

This threatens to destabilise the already fragile situation in Haiti. The transitional team has barely lasted a year, and planned elections are facing the possibility of being pushed.

Since June last year, Kenya has deployed at least 800 police officers under the MSS mission in Haiti to help in curbing unease in the country; however, gangs have continued to take over businesses and other critical infrastructures in Haiti, especially the country's capital.

A contingent of Kenya Police Officers at the Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti on January 19, 2025, when they arrived for deployment.

Ministry of Interior

Recently, reports have indicated that the gangs are now targeting prominent neighbourhoods such as Petion-Ville, which harbour some of the country's critical institutions, such as banks and embassies.

The protestors blamed the country's leadership for being reluctant to deal with the increasing ferocity and the increasing rate of children joining gangs, a situation that has severely sabotaged the country's economic and social fitness.

"Haiti cannot be run among friends. The city is dying because the council is not doing anything to make it better," one of the protestors said.

In the past four months alone, gangs have claimed the lives of 1,600 people and injured another 580.

In 2024 alone, according to the United Nations, gang violence in the country claimed the lives of 5,600 people in the country and left more than one million people homeless.

The developments come amid little to no news on the fate of the Haiti mission, which is expected to conclude soon. Some of the troops in Haiti are expected to return home later this year.

Despite receiving continued support for the mission from the United States and the United Nations, the mission has barely reached its desired impact, with Haiti remaining on the edge of crisis.

Whether or not Kenya will seek to extend the mission remains to be seen, but for now, the team leading a multinational team to combat the gangs has to protect irate and frustrated citizens from the grip of unrelenting shelling.