The Haiti Unfinished Liberation of Dessalines (HULOD) has penned a scathing letter to President William Ruto, urging him to withdraw Kenya's police force from the Caribbean nation.
In the letter, the group, terming itself the descendants of Haiti, termed the President’s decision to send Kenyan police officers to Haiti as not only ill-advised but also a form of neocolonialism.
"We write to you on behalf of HULOD (Haiti’s Unfinished Liberation of Dessalines) with the utmost respect due to your office as an African head of state, yet with deep pain and indignation as descendants of Haiti, the land that first raised the banner of freedom for all peoples oppressed by slavery and colonialism," the letter read in part.
"We regret your government's decision to authorise the deployment of Kenyan police forces to Haitian territory as part of a mission that bears all the hallmarks of neo-colonial domination."
The group, led by its President Daniel Alexis, cited several other declarations of the unlawfulness of the troop deployment, including court orders barring it.
Alexis also referenced the strong opposition to the move by former presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot. Emphasising that Haiti was not open to foreign powers and control, the letter brought up Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
They termed Haiti the sacred land of Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the first Black sovereign leader of modern times, terming the nation an example and hope for every nation striving to rise in dignity.
Therefore, the group described the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti as not only immoral but also a political and historical failure.
"We therefore confront you with this historical truth: your mission MSS in Haiti is a moral, political, and historical failure. You appear today not as a liberator, but as a pawn in a system working against everything Africa once fought to overcome," the letter read in part.
"Your Excellency, we appeal to your conscience as an African, as a brother, as a leader: withdraw your hand from Haiti. Choose to honour the will of a people who refuse to kneel. Choose to stand on the right side of history with liberty, with dignity, with sovereign nations rising," it concluded.
The concept of HULOD refers to the ongoing debate and discussion surrounding the legacy of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haiti's first leader, and the persistent challenges Haiti faces decades after the Haitian Revolution.
While Dessalines achieved independence from French colonial rule in 1804, his vision of a united and free Haiti remains unrealised due to various factors, including internal divisions, magnified by the current takeover of most of the nation by rebellious gangs.
So far, about 1,000 Kenyan police officers are leading the MSS mission in a bid to liberate Haiti from the gangs. Two of them have already succumbed in the line of duty.
