Between Washington and Nairobi, communications are incessant. Antony Blinken, the American Secretary of State, spoke by telephone twice in less than a week with the Kenyan head of state, William Ruto, whose country is responsible for leading the future international force of intervention in Haiti under UN mandate. One way for the United States to ensure that its partner is ready to deploy its special police forces units despite the recent upheavals in Port-au-Prince.
Because the resignation of the Haitian Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, from his exile in Puerto Rico, Tuesday March 12, cooled Kenya’s enthusiasm. That “resulted in a fundamental change of circumstances”, Korir SingOei, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the same day: “In the absence of a political administration in Haiti, there is no anchor point on which the deployment of the police can rely. This is why the government of Kenya will wait for the installation of a new constitutional authority in Haiti before making further decisions on the matter. »
Nairobi responded favorably, in October 2023, to the call for help from the Haitian government, the United States and the United Nations, which pleaded for a new law enforcement mission in the Caribbean country, paralyzed by gang attacks that control almost the entire capital. Kenya must provide a thousand men and take the lead in the mission.
A deployment deemed “unconstitutional”
The Kenyan declaration worries Washington, the real instigator of this intervention, visibly eager to see it deployed. The United States, which evacuated its non-essential diplomatic personnel on Sunday – just like France – want “accelerate” political transition, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. Under pressure from Washington, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) must urgently appoint a “presidential transition council” in Port-au-Prince.
“I assured Mr. Blinken that Kenya will take leadership of the United Nations security support mission in Haiti as soon as the presidential council has been established through an agreed process”, promised William Ruto. However, this is not the only obstacle that the Kenyan president must face before being able to deploy the intervention force – which must include around 5,000 men from, in addition to Kenya, Benin, Chad, Bangladesh , Barbados and the Bahamas.
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