Kenyan Government challenging high court block

NAIROBI, Kenya, CMC – The  Government of Kenya says  intends to exhaust all legal remedies at its disposal to challenge  the verdict of the High Court of Justice prohibiting the deployment in Haiti of 1,000 security agents as part of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in support of the Haitian National Police in its fight against gangs and for the restoration of public order.

“Although the Government respects the rule of law, we have nevertheless decided to immediately challenge the High Court verdict,”  said Isaac Mwaura, the spokesperson  for the  Government.

 “The Government reiterates its commitment to honor its international obligations as a member of the community and committee of nations […] Kenya has an exceptional record of contributing to peacekeeping missions at the international level in countries such as : South Sudan, Namibia, Croatia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, among others…” he said.

On Friday, Justice Chacha Mwita declared that the National Security Council did not have the mandate to deploy police officers in another country.

In October last year, Kenya’s National Security Council had requested Parliament’s approval for the deployment of Kenyan police officers as part of the UN-backed security mission. The National Assembly then approved this deployment.

In its ruling, the High Court  said that parliamentary approval was only required for military, and not police deployments. 

But it said for officers to be deployed, there needed to be a reciprocal arrangement with the host government, which the petitioners had argued, with no contest from the government , was not currently in place.

On Thursday, Haiti’s Foreign Minister, Jean Victor Généus, had pleaded for the deployment to be speeded up, telling the United Nations security council that violence in the country was as barbaric as in a war zone.

The United Nations Special Representative to Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, also told the UN Security Council that the crisis in Haiti had reached “a critical point.

“I cannot over stress the severity of the situation in Haiti, where multiple protracted crises have reached a critical point,” said Salvador in presenting the latest report of the UN political office in Haiti, known by the French acronym as BINUH.

She said more than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence in Haiti last year, including killings, injuries and kidnappings,  a 122 per cent increase over 2022.

Salvador said the impoverished Caribbean country remains plagued by mounting violence and insecurity at the hands of armed gangs “against a backdrop of political, humanitarian and socioeconomic challenges.”

Haiti has seen years of declining security due to raging gang violence, with its political, economic and public health systems also in tatters. The country has been without a president since the incumbent, Jovenel Moise was assassination in July 2021.

Earlier this week, the United Nations reported that 5,000 homicides were recorded in Haiti last year, more than double that in 2022.

“I am appalled by the staggering and worsening level of gang violence devastating the lives of Haitians, in particular in Port-au-Prince,” said UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres said in the report, adding “gang killings, kidnappings and sexual violence, notably against women and young girls, among other abuses , continue with widespread impunity.

The UN report said that one in 10 police stations nationwide had been attacked through the year, while many of the police’s armored vehicles were left inoperable after clashes with gang members, who often donned fake police uniforms to carry out kidnappings.

Several Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize, have  indicated a  willingness to be part of the UN-backed mission and the Minister of State in the Ministry of National Defense, Oscar Mira, in Belize said an official decision has not yet been made and that Belmopan is waiting for directives from its CARICOM counterparts.

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