Kenya has put on hold the deployment of 1,000 police officers to tame gang crimes in Haiti.
According to Principle Secretary for Foreign Affairs Korir Sing'oei, the decision comes about following the resignation of Haiti's Prime Minister on Monday, March 11, 2024.
Sing'oei further stated that the lack of a political administration in Haiti provides no ground or anchor for the mission.
Kenya, therefore, will wait for the installation of a recognised constitutional authority before further decisions on the deployment are made.
“The deal they signed with the president still stands, although the deployment will not happen now because definitely, we will require a sitting government to also collaborate with,” an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, as seen in the New York Times.
“Because you don’t just deploy police to go on the Port-au-Prince streets without a sitting administration," he added.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned as Haiti's top leader following a crisis meeting held between the 15-member Caribbean Community regional bloc known as CARICOM.
Also discussed in the meeting, was the creation of a presidential college, that would pick a new interim Prime Minister to hold fort.
"We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and naming of an interim prime minister," the President of Guyana and chairman of CARICOM Mohammed Irfaan Ali stated.
This comes a day after the Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki confirmed the mission was in the pre-deployment stage, despite court orders barring the operation.
"There was a small court matter but it has been resolved. We are now in the pre-deployment stage all the other programs are in place," Kindiki revealed.
The Former US special envoy to Haiti Daniel Foote in an interview with Aljazeera cautioned the country against sending their troops to the gang-raided nation, terming Kenya as a third-world country with no capacity to deliver on the mission.
