The government of Kenya on Thursday February 6, 2025 sent 168 more police officers to Haiti to join others in fighting criminal gangs.
According to the police report, the team left Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi on Thursday at around 1.00 am.
The officers, mainly from the paramilitary General Service Unit, left for the Multinational Security Support Mission mission after months of training.
Several top government officials were present at JKIA to see off the police officers aboard a Kenya Airways flight.
This raises the number of Kenyan troops in Haiti to 800, under the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) that is funded by the United Nations.
Meanwhile, the US had announced the freezing of over US$13 million (Ksh1.7 billion) in funding for the Kenya-led Multinational Security Mission in Haiti.
The US embassy in Haiti issued a statement to explain the move.
“The United States has not paused all assistance for the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti. On the contrary, Secretary Rubio approved waivers to allow for millions of dollars in mission-critical assistance to the MSS mission and Haitian National Police (HNP).”
“The Department of State approved waivers for $40.7 million in foreign assistance to benefit the HNP and MSS mission. This includes logistical contracts to support forward operating bases, a vehicle maintenance contract to support the MSS mission fleet, a medical services contract for the HNP, transportation services for Department of State-provided equipment deliveries, and contracts that support subject matter experts with the HNP,” read part of the statement.
At the same time, Kenya, through government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said on Wednesday that the operations of the Kenya-led multinational security support mission in Haiti won’t be jeopardised after the United States froze its financial contributions to the force’s United Nations fund.
The security mission was approved by the U.N. Security Council in October 2023 to support Haiti’s authorities in fighting criminal gangs in the Caribbean country.
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