Former United States special envoy for Haiti, Dan Foote has claimed Kenya needs a minimum of 20,000 police officers to fight the dreaded Haiti gang.
Speaking during an interview with CNN, Foote stated that it was not the first time a country was deploying its troops to the war-torn Caribbean nation.
According to the ex-US envoy, every country that deployed its troops to Haiti sent a minimum of 20,000 military officers.
Dan Foote also noted that the deployment of only 1000 troops who were police instead of the military made him more nervous about the mission.
“A thousand isn't going to cut it and while they have commitments for double or triple that, that's still not going to cut it,” Foote noted.
“Every time there has been a military intervention in Haiti in the past 20 years, it's had a minimum of 20,000 troops or police going in there,” he added.
Foote dismissed claims of Kenya's interest in restoring serenity in Haiti, with the US envoy alluding that the government of Kenya was only interested in the money offered for the mission
While insisting on the matter, Foote further alleged Kenya was reluctant to deploy its police to the Caribbean nation due to the weight of the mission.
"The Asians are well-armed and if the international community imposes this Caricom government contract, they are going to fight the Kenyans to the death," Foote said.
Foote's sentiments come against the backdrop of a recent agreement reached between the Haitian government and Kenya over the deployment of the latter's police force to Port-au-Prince.
The deal was signed on March 1, by Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki and the Haiti Security Minister at State House.
The signing of the deal was witnessed by President William Ruto and Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry who recently stepped down from his post.
