Kenya halts troop deployment to Haiti after PM Henry's resignation

Kenya has decided to pause its deployment of 1,000 police officers to lead an international security mission in Haiti following Prime Minister Ariel Henry's announcement that he would tender his resignation, a senior Kenyan official said.

"It is true the planned deployment of police officers has been put on hold," Kenya's Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Koriri Sing'Oei said Tuesday.

"There has been a fundamental change in circumstances in Haiti as a result of the complete breakdown of law and order," Sing'Oei added.

Sing'Oei said, however, that Kenya remained committed to "providing leadership to the MSS," referring to the Multinational Security Support mission that was approved by the UN Security Council in October last year.

In response to the Kenyan announcement, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters: "I would be concerned, of course, about any delay, but we don't think that there will need to be a delay."

Kenya had agreed last October to lead a UN-authorised international police force to Haiti, but the country's top court in January ruled this was unconstitutional, in part because of a lack of reciprocal agreements on such deployments between the two countries.

Kenya's President William Ruto said that he and Henry had witnessed the signing of the reciprocal agreements between Kenya and Haiti on March 1, clearing the path for the deployment.

Under the plan, the UN-backed multi-national police led by Kenyan officers was to help quell gang violence that has long plagued Haiti.

Violent crisis

In recent weeks, the Haiti crisis has grown even more violent, with bodies strewn across the streets, armed bandits looting basic infrastructure and fears rising of a famine.

Scores have been killed, and more than 15,000 are homeless after fleeing neighbourhoods raided by gangs.

Food and water are dwindling, and the main port in the capital of Port-au-Prince remains closed, stranding dozens of containers with critical supplies.

After returning from a trip to Kenya, where he had gone to salvage plans for the African country's deployment, Henry has been locked out of his own country and has remained in Puerto Rico since last week.

Henry's announcement on Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created indicated he was bowing to international pressure to make way for new leadership in the country overwhelmed by violent gangs.

Sing'Oei said that without a clear administration in place in Haiti, there is no anchor for an international police force.

Therefore, the Kenyan government will await the installation of a new authority in Haiti, before making further decisions on its deployment.

On Monday, Kenyan Interior Minister Kindiki Kithure said their officers selected to go to Haiti were ready and awaiting deployment after the top court's requirements on bilateral agreements were met.

Critics of Henry, who was sworn in as prime minister nearly two weeks after the July 7, 2021, assassination of President Jovenel Moise, say he was never elected by the people or Parliament, which remains nonexistent after the terms of the last remaining senators expired in January 2023.