High Court Judge Chacha Mwita on Friday,declared the governments plan to deploy National Police Service officers to Haiti Illegal and Unconcostitutional.
According to Justice Mwita the National Security Council and NPS do not have powers to deploy police outside Kenya.
“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,” ruled Judge Chacha Mwita.
“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.”
The petition was filled by Third Way party Alliance leader Ekuru Aukot who termed the decision as illegal and wanted it blocked.
The Kenyan officers were to be deployed to Haiti as part of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) mission.
The goal of the mission is to restore peace in the Caribbean island and strengthen the Haitian government.
The deployment had been approved by the UNSC on October 2 but has faced much pushback not just in Kenya but abroad.
Haiti has been unstable in the Caribbean region which was a state accelerated by the covid pandemic.
Moreover, the assassination of the president has creamed foul play by global actors to gain a foothold in the region.
In light of this, criminal gangs have taken hold of the country and run most state operations such as security.
The head of the criminal gangs in Haiti has issued a stern warning on Kenyan intervention in Haiti
The petition was filed against Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, and four others.
The United Nations Security Council had approved a multinational force led by Kenya to deploy police officers to Haiti.
The United States has pledged $100 million to support Kenya in the mission.
With the mission coming to a halt, insiders have sighted the potential of the case reaching the corridors of the Supreme Court even though it is too early to make such a drastic prediction.
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