The High Court on Friday, January 26, blocked President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza government from deploying police officers to fight gangs in Haiti.
High Court Judge Justice Chacha Mwita said the National Security Council does not have the authority to send police officers to Haiti or any other country under Kenyan law.
He added that the long-delayed deployment under a deal financed by the United States “contravenes the constitution and the law and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal, and invalid.”
“An order is hereby issued prohibiting deployment of police forces to Haiti or any other country,” he said.
The ruling poses a potential setback for Kenya’s peacekeeping mission to the Caribbean nation having previously supported similar initiatives by the UN and the African Union.
However, despite the ban, the government of Haiti on Sunday, January 28, said it remains hopeful that Kenya will send police officers.
The government of Haiti in a statement said it was “following development in Kenya and expects a swift and positive outcome.”
The remarks by the Haiti government come at a time when the Kenya Kwanza government has announced plans to challenge the high court ban that declared the deployment of Kenya police to the Caribbean nation as illegal.
“The government of Kenya takes note of the High Court’s ruling regarding the deployment of the Kenya Police to help the multi-national security support mission for the restoration of law and order in Haiti,
“While the government respects the rule of law, we have however decided to challenge the high court’s verdict forthwith,” said Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura.
