Kenyan police in Haiti have faced challenges including a lack of funding and inadequate personnel, prompting calls for a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission.
The Kenyan police in Haiti leading the UN-backed peacekeeping mission are grappling with significant funding challenges which experts argue have hindered progress.
Initially, the mission was targeted to cost $600 million.
On Tuesday, November 12, the United States of America and the United Nations suspended flights to the capital of Port au Prince after gangs shot three planes.
UN said flights to the capital city, including those facilitating humanitarian aid, would be halted as a precautionary measure amid the alarming resurgence of gang activities.
The move to suspend flights came a day after bullets hit a plane preparing to land in Port au Prince in an attack that left a flight attendant injured.
These developments have since raised questions on the effectiveness of the Kenya-led police mission at a time when proposals to replace the mission with a UN one have been fronted.
The Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) has been receiving financial backing from the United States of America (USA) and Canada and so far, having received $369 million from the United States and $85 million from other nations.
The mission was sanctioned by the United Nations but is largely financed by the United States.
The UN’s policy of reimbursements only after expenses have been incurred has also posed a challenge to Kenyan officers bid to access the money upfront. This has forced the officers to depend on the more accessible funds from willing nations.
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Police in Haiti are facing a challenge in personnel
Besides funding, the officers also grapple with inadequate personnel. So far, Kenya has sent 400 officers to Haiti and is set to send 600 more by the end of November 2024.
Even with the additional deployment, experts note that this number is woefully small in comparison to the numbers of the Haitian gangs. It is estimated that there are up 200 gangs whose members add up to 15,000 collectively.
The Haiti gangs have now hold 85% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. More than 580,000 people have been left homeless as a result and the number continues to rise by the day.
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The US and UN suspends flights to Haiti
Consequently, the US has now banned its airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after the gangs shot two American planes that were departing Port-au-Prince on Monday, November 11,2024.
The United Nations has also suspended flights to Port-au-Prince following the incident, limiting humanitarian aid coming into the country.
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