Kenyan police deploy to crack down on powerful syndicate

After months of controversy and legal challenges, Kenya has sent 400 police officers to Haiti for the first time to curb gang violence.

The Caribbean country has experienced decades of instability, with violence escalating after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated three years ago.

Earlier this year, rival armed groups took control of the capital, Port-au-Prince, forcing Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign weeks later.

It is estimated that armed groups currently control 80% of the city.

The United Nations says a “significant use of force” is needed to resolve the problems.

But there was strong domestic opposition to Mr Ruto’s decision – not least because Kenyan police have been accused of committing abuses in their own country.

Kenyan police based at the US-built base will work with Haitian police in an effort to recapture key locations controlled by gangs, including nearby airports and seaports.

Haiti has not held elections since 2016.

Therefore, elections will be organized within a year and to achieve this, the Kenyan-led mission will be tasked with restoring security.

Their deployment authorization is for one year and will be reviewed after nine months.

In the first three months of this year, gang violence killed or injured an average of more than one person every hour, according to the United Nations.

According to the United Nations migration agency, nearly 600,000 Haitians have been forced from their homes.

In some places, schools and police stations have been turned into shelters by families fleeing violence.

The Haitian police force has only 9,000 officers. By comparison, it is estimated that as many as 8,000 Haitians belong to some 200 armed gangs, with roles ranging from commanders to informants. Recruitment has been increasing in recent years.

Emmanuel Paul, a security adviser for the Haitian Humanitarian Organization, said the gangs now have as much firepower as police.

“Both sides are using almost the same types of weapons – classic assault rifles, various brands of AK-47 Kalashnikovs,” he told the BBC.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has even accused the country’s military of selling missiles and ammunition to militants who may smuggle them into Haiti.

“We are doing this for the people of Haiti. The responsibility for Haiti’s security is our shared responsibility,” Mr Ruto said.

But critics say Kenya is simply doing the bidding of the United States and hoping to curry favor with the superpower, especially on security fronts.

During his recent visit to Washington, Mr Ruto also mentioned a desire to improve Kenya’s international standing in this area.

The United States then undoubtedly achieved this goal by designating the East African country as a major non-NATO ally.

But at home, President Ruto faces strong opposition, with Kenya’s High Court ruling the deployment is illegal. This delayed the arrival of the first officers.

The court said the Kenyan government had no authority to send police abroad without a prior reciprocal agreement.

The agreement was subsequently signed on March 1, but the opposition Kenya Third Way Alliance filed a new lawsuit arguing that the deployment still violated the law.

“This mission was approved by the United Nations. The request came from the United Nations and the United States. There was no request from Haiti and no request that could be implemented,” said Charles Midega, a Haitian lawyer.

“The president failed to follow the procedures set out in Kenya’s constitution and deployment laws. Most importantly, the president failed to list Haiti as a reciprocal country as a prerequisite for deployment.”

Although Kenya has a history of participating in peacekeeping missions, its police force has never set foot outside Africa.

It is believed that the troops deployed will come from the General Service Unit (GSU), a paramilitary force often deployed during demonstrations and terrorist attacks.

It has not yet been used against international criminal networks such as Haitian gangs.

But the Kenyan government said deployed officers received specialized training, including courses in French and Haitian Creole, to facilitate communication with their peers.

Another obstacle is the chain of command.

“There will be Kenyan police, but other countries are sending soldiers,” Mr Paul said.

“That’s going to be the biggest headache in this mission – how to coordinate the police and the military because they have different training backgrounds and different missions.”

Newly appointed Commander Godfrey Otunge will lead the Kenya task force and he has a difficult task on his hands.

Kenyan police have long been criticized for human rights abuses, and some rights groups have expressed concerns about their deployment to Haiti.

Police in Kenya’s capital Nairobi were accused of using live ammunition against anti-tax hike protesters on Tuesday.

The Kenya Medical Association said at least five people were shot.

Ruto defended the police, saying the “legitimate” protests were “hijacked by a group of organized criminals”.

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council last August, Amnesty International highlighted Kenya’s police record of using excessive force.

It also accuses Kenyan police of killing dozens of protesters last year and unlawfully arresting and detaining others.

But police chief Japhet Koom denied this and last year accused opposition politicians of placing rented bodies from morgues at protest sites in order to blame deaths on his personnel.

Haiti has experienced three large-scale peacekeeping operations in the past 30 years, but they failed to prevent the crisis from deepening.

In 1994, approximately 25,000 military personnel from Caribbean countries were deployed to carry out UN-mandated operations.

Ten years later, 9,000 UN peacekeepers, led by Brazil and known as MINUSTAH, were deployed.

This time, the U.N.-mandated task force is believed to have up to 3,000 officers, including civilian contractors deployed on site to provide logistical support.

Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council recently appointed former Prime Minister Gary Conier to lead the country until elections are held.

Haitians have watched peacekeeping missions come and go without stability.

They hope for a different outcome this time.

Additional reporting by Natasha Buti