Kenya’s Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Principal Secretary Dr Korir SingOei has addressed the fate of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM) to Haiti led by the Kenya police should US President-Elect Donald Trump decide to pull out.
In a TV interview, SingOei said the MSSM aligns with Trump’s stand on immigration.
“To our minds, the existence of the MSS actually aligns with President elect Trump’s strategy around immigration,” he said.
He explained that part of dealing with the migration is stabilizing countries where immigrant comes from.
The PS said Haitians are leaving the country because of insecurity, lack of opportunities, poor governance amongst other reasons.
“What the MSS is trying to do is to establish the conditions necessary for the flourishing of the Haitian society which then deals with the problem of illegal immigrants at source. We don’t actually see a misalignment,” he added.
However, he clarified that the MSSM is in Haiti pursuant to a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution.
SingOei said the US is just one member of the UN Security Council, but the resolution received the endorsement of the council and its entirety.
“One cannot say that merely because there’s going to be a change of guard in the US that the MSS will not be supported,” SingOei said.
MSSM New Resolution
Additionally, he revealed that there is a new resolution being negotiated to transition the MSSM from the current funding under a Trust Fund to a direct UN Peacekeeping force.
This, he said, will allow the deployment to attract resources from ordinary contributions of the entire UN membership.
“Therefore, in terms of sustainability, there is already thinking that this Trust Fund mechanism was merely transitory to allow for a certain level of security to be established and the transmission to a fill UN mission,” he said.
Also Read: Kenya’s Haiti Mission Hit With Mysterious Ksh2.1 Billion Payment
Kenya Spending Ksh2.1B on Haiti Mission
Sing’oei also clarified the governments Ksh.2.1 billion expenditure on Haiti mission.
The PS said it is normal for countries to pay money in advance in peace keeping missions just like Kenya did during the deployment to DRC.
He said the mission is mandated by the United Nations (UN) which is financed through a Trust Fund.
He explained that countries make contributions to the Fund which are later refunded.
“This is the normal practice. The resources will certainly be reimbursed to Kenya. The financing mechanism for it is through a trust fund which enables countries to make contributions. It is just that the resources are never available at the get go and yet the deployment has to take place,” he said.
Also Read: Kenyan Police Mission in Haiti Exposed as Gangs Paralyze Operations in Major City
Trump Relation with Africa
Besides, the PS mentioned that Trump will be very focused on growing the Africa-US relations.
He explained that people should concentrate on bigger things like expanding trade with the US and not discussions about Trump not visiting Africa.
“Sometimes we lose sight of the big picture on account merely of rhetorics of a give leader. Our focus is on the actions of these leaders and the very clear indications is that he will be very much focused on growing the Africa-US State Visit,” he said.
“That might lead to a state visit but that may not necessarily be the important part of it. If you can have more access to the US market, that will matter more to Kenyans than a visit.”
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