The planned deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti for a peacekeeping mission has been dealt a blow days after dates and numbers of the first deployment batch were confirmed.
The deployment of 200 officers which is set for May 23,2024 has faced a fresh challenge following a petition filed against the government.
Lawyer Ekuru Aukot and other Kenyan lawyers at the Midenga & Company Advocates law firm on May 16, 2024, filed a petition against the government accusing it of contempt of court.
The lawyers in their petition claimed that the state contravened a court order issued in January stopping the deployment.
According to Aukot, the government has already selected a contingent of 200 police officers are set to travel to Haiti later this month.
Also Read: Kenyan Officers Reveal Special Training They Are Undergoing Ahead of Haiti Deployment
The lawyers thus urged the court to treat the petition as urgent since the government was planning to kick off the deployment soon.
Petition against Haiti deployment
“The Applicants are reliably informed that the impugned deployment may be done any time from now but not later than 23.5.2024 hence the urgency of this application,” reads part of the petition.
In the petition, the government is accused of blatantly disobeying and violating a High Court of Kenya order which prohibited the deployment of Kenya police officers to Haiti in violation of the National Police Service Act and the Constitution of Kenya.
Judge Chacha Mwita in his ruling back in January observed that the National Security Council does not have the authority to deploy regular police outside the country.
The judge added that the council can only deploy military, not police, for peacekeeping missions such as Haiti.
Lawyer Aukot who is the Thirdway Alliance Party leader in his petition also claimed that the Caribbean nation had not written a formal request to Kenya for the deployment of its officers to assist in battling gangs in the country.
“There is no government in place in Haiti to give us such a request or sign a bilateral agreement with Kenya,” Aukot noted.
Similarly, the petition highlighted that lawyer in Haiti had filed similar legal action against former Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s government blocking the deployment.
The suit stated that the then PM lacked constitutional mandate and legal authority alleging a foreign force for a shoot-to-kill mercenary mission, funded by the imperial powers led by the United States. Additionally, the suit highlighted that the planned mission violates Haiti’s sovereignty.
Deployment to Coincide with Ruto’s US Visit
The petition by the lawyers led by the Third way Alliance Party leader came days after reports indicated that Kenya was planning to send the first batch of police officers to Haiti starting from May 23.
According to the reports, the officers drawn from the elite Recce squad, Rapid Deployment Force and Special Operation Group will touch down in Port-au-Prince around the said date.
The deployment is set to coincide with President William Ruto‘s state visit to the United States in which the deployment will be among the focal points of discussion.
An earlier report by the New York Times had revealed that Kenyan police officers set to be deployed to Haiti had already been recalled from leave in preparation for leaving for the country.
However, Haitian gang leaders led by Jimmy Cherizier “Barbecue” vowed to fight the deployment with increased gang violence which has left thousands of people dead and more than 350,000 displaced in the past year.
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