Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga has questioned President William Ruto over Kenya’s mission to Haiti.
According to him, the unrest in Haiti does not require external parties to intervene.
“Why Kenya?” Odinga posed, adding, “The U.S. itself withdrew its forces from there, the problem with Haiti is political, they do not need more guns to calm that situation.”
Biden Praises Ruto for deploying officers to Haiti
His sentiments come a day after President William Ruto shared details of their phone call with United States President Joe Biden after the United Nations Security Council approved Kenya’s mission to Haiti.
“President Biden thanked Kenya for accepting to lead the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti and expressed America’s support for the mission,” read part of his statement on Wednesday, October 4.
Ruto’s allies have been under fire for supporting the move to deploy 1,000 National Police officers to the Carribean country.
Ruto’s allies express confidence in the move
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei affirmed that in a period of one year “Haiti shall be a country of prosperity flowing with honey and milk courtesy of Kenya peace process.”
“Our Police deployment to Haiti is NOT ordinary police but special forces / Paramilitary Police to handle the Haitian criminal gangs,” Cherargei added.
Nelson Koech, Member of Parliament of Belgut, who also doubles as the National Assembly Defence and Foreign Relations Committee Chairperson, expressed confidence that the mission would be a success.
“Kenya has sent missions before and has largely been successful in many of these regions,” he explained.
Koech relayed fears on whether it is only Kenyan officers being deployed to the warring country.
“They are only sending 1000 police officers among other officers from other different countries; Jamaica, Rwanda, and Canada,” he added.
The Kenyan government will deploy its forces to the Carribean starting January 2024.
