Citizens of Haiti are now worried about their safety after a Kenyan court halted the planned deployment of police officers to lead a fight against gangs that are controlling large parts of the country.
A report by the Associated Press on Saturday indicated that just hours after Justice Chacha Mwita delivered that ruling, residents of the war-torn nation began calling radio stations in angst.
In fact, some of the radio stations got jammed from too many calls with some of the victims fearing that the war had turned up a notch higher.
Over the past year, the gangs controlled 80 per cent of the country's capital city of Port-Au-Prince, with concerns raised that it is a matter of time before the gangs take over full control.
The overriding theme from a majority of the callers was the demand to know what would happen next after the court ruling.
On Friday, Justice Mwita termed the planned deployment as unconstitutional noting that the National Security Council and the National Police Service (NPS) have no powers to deploy the officers outside the country.
"To be clear, Article 240 does not mandate the Council to deploy police officers outside Kenya. Deployment should be as provided for in part 14 of the Act and only to a reciprocating country," he directed.
"It is not contested that there is no reciprocal arrangement between Kenya and Haiti and for that reason, there can be no deployment of police to that country."
"An order is hereby issued prohibiting the deployment of police officers to Haiti or any other country otherwise than any compliance with part 14 of NPS Act," he added.
The Foreign Affairs PS Korir Sing'oei, however, disagreed with the ruling lamenting Mwita's exclusion of police as a force.
"I have had occasion to quickly review Justice Mwita's judgment on the deployment of Kenya police contingent to Haiti pursuant to UNSC Resolution 2699. I disagree with the Learned Judge's restrictive interpretation of the word "Forces" in part 243 of the Constitution to exclude the Police," he argued.
"Such a restrictive approach fails to appreciate the legislative history behind the differentiation between "Forces" and "Service" in the Katiba. However, by determining that police deployment abroad can take place on the basis of reciprocal arrangements, the Judgement doesn't foreclose the Haiti Mission. Or does it?" He questioned.
The Court made the ruling on a case filed by Thirdway Alliance Party leader Ekuru Aukot who had argued that the deployment heralded by President William Ruto was illegal. The State was scheduled to deploy 1,000 police officers.
An earlier report by global media outlets indicated that the attacks had grown more intense with gangs taking over police stations and expanding outside city centers.
“I cannot overstress the severity of the situation in Haiti, where multiple protracted crises have reached a critical point," Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti Maria Isabel Salvador told the United Nations.
