Kenya to complete full deployment in Haiti in January: President

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – Kenya will complete the full deployment of a stabilisation force in violence-torn Haiti by January, President William Ruto said on Thursday, calling for more funding to help other contributing countries.

Published on: 26/09/2024 – 16:32Altered: 26/09/2024 – 16:30

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Funding for the mission to combat widespread lawlessness and gangsterism is a sore point, with the UN previously calling the level of pledges “unacceptable”.

“Kenya will deploy the additional contingent to achieve the target of 2,500 police officers by January next year,” Ruto said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

“Kenya and other countries in the Caribbean and Africa are ready to deploy but are hampered by insufficient equipment, logistics and financing,” he said.

“I call on all Member States to show solidarity with the people of Haiti by providing the necessary support, either directly to the MSS contributing countries or through the UN Trust Fund,” he said, using the acronym for Multinational Security Support Mission.

Criminal gangs control more than 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince, as well as major roads in the country.

Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Garry Conille warned Wednesday that “we are far from having won,” stressing that the fight against the gangs cannot be won without outside help.

The United States announced $160 million in new aid to Haiti on Wednesday, bringing the total amount of U.S. aid to the troubled Caribbean nation since 2021 to $1.3 billion.

Haiti’s transitional council coordinator, Edgard Leblanc Fils, said his country still needs “many more personnel and equipment to resolve security challenges and allow elections to take place.”

Washington also announced sanctions against two Haitians on Wednesday.