Nairobi.-The president of Kenya, Wiliam Ruto, warned yesterday that the mandate of the multinational security support mission (MSS) in Haiti, led by the African country, expires in October and asked the UN Security Council to “guide a responsible transition.”
Ruto addressed that matter at a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, within the framework of the second summit between Africa and the Caribbean community (Caricom), which is held this Sunday at the headquarters of the African Union (UA) in the capital of Ethiopia, Adís Abeba.
“We address ways to deepen our links and review the urgent global security challenges, with special attention to the mission in Haiti, under the mandate of the UN Security Council,” explained the Kenyan president in his account of social network X.
“With the current mandate next to expire, we emphasize the urgency that the Security Council guides a responsible and timely transition,” said Ruto.
The MSS is an initiative requested by the Haitian authorities, led by Kenya, economically backed by the United States and approved in 2023 by the United Nations Security Council.
The mission, which activated in 2024, seeks to support the security forces of the island country in their fight against armed bands, which control 90 % of the capital and other areas of the country.
The MSS is made up of about 1,000 troops, most of them from Kenya. According to UN data, Haiti recorded a 24 % increase in intentional homicides in the first six months of the year, reaching a total of 4,026 murders.
In addition, the violence of the bands has caused the internal displacement of around 1.3 million people.
In June 2024, a first contingent of 600 Kenyan policemen arrived in Puerto Príncipe, within the framework of the international mission to restore security in Haiti.
A plane from the national airline Kenya Airways landed at the Haitian capital airport with the police on board.
The plane had taken off from Nairobi after President Keniano, William Ruto, visited the agents before his departure.
Barbecue truce
– Return home
Pandillero leader Jimmy Cherisier, aka Barbecue, recently announced that he will allow the return to their homes of the inhabitants of some neighborhoods in the center of Puerto Príncipe, which is controlled at 90 % by armed bands.
The UN regrets the little support received
Fianciating last week the Secretary General of the Organization of the Unit Nations, Antonio Guterres, said that Haiti remains shamefully ignored and with an unfortunately insufficient financing.
“This makes Haiti the least funded humanitarian calling the world,” Guterres said in a thematic session about the prolonged multidimensional crisis that ravages the Caribbean nation.
As a consequence, he warned that more than 1.7 million people run the risk of being without any assistance in Haiti, where the violence of armed gangs has spread throughout the country.
