A court in Nairobi this Friday, January 26 ruled “ unconstitutional, illegal and invalid » the decision to send a thousand Kenyan police officers to Haiti to lead a multinational mission. This decision marks a halt to the deployment of this multinational force.
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Faced with increasingly pressing calls from the Haitian government and the UN, Kenya agreed in July to lead a force of 2,500 to 2,600 men, hoped for ” during the first quarter of 2024 “. The UN gave the green light in October to this force, also supported by the United States. But the Kenyan government’s announcement, validated in Parliament on November 16, sparked strong protests in this East African country. Opponent Ekuru Aukot had notably appealed to the Nairobi High Court, arguing that this mission was unconstitutional, as it had no legal basis.
An opinion that the High Court therefore confirmed. “ The National Security Council has no mandate to deploy national police officers outside Kenya “, said Judge Enock Chacha Mwita. A ” such decision contravenes the Constitution and the law and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and invalid “, he added. The sending of police officers outside the national territory is only possible in the event of agreement of “ reciprocity » signed with the country receiving the troops, which must have requested it directly from Kenya. This is not currently the case between Kenya and Haiti, specifies our correspondent in Nairobi, Albane Thirouard.
This verdict marks a halt to the highly anticipated multinational force to try to quell the growing chaos in this small Caribbean state, where gang violence has left nearly 5,000 dead, including more than 2,700 civilians, in 2023, according to a report Tuesday from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The Kenyan government has “ reiterated its commitment to honor its international obligations » while affirming that he would “ challenge » this verdict, said government spokesperson Isaac Maigua Mwaura in a press release. “ We will also study the verdict and take necessary measures. Kenya is and remains committed to its peacekeeping obligations to the international community “, explained the spokesperson.
Opponent Ekuru Aukot was delighted with this victory. “ We are very happy with this decision. The judge did not agree with some of our arguments but in the end, he did call the deployment of police officers abroad illegal and unconstitutional. There is, however, one thing I want to point out. To me, there is no legitimate government in Haiti right now that could make a request for deployment to another country “, did he declare.
“The Haitian people are in dire straits”
The legal challenge from the Kenyan authorities will still take a long time. However, Haiti does not have time, underlines Jean-Marie Théodat, Haitian writer and professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. “ There was a spread of criminal violence in departments which were until then still protected. We are witnessing a progressive worsening of the situation in Haiti “, he believes. And to add: “ There is something shocking in the way international authorities are handling the Haitian crisis. So many other countries would have had much more means and reason to intervene in Haiti but Haiti does not represent a strategic interest as long as the strategy stops at accounting data in terms of the resources to be exploited. “.
According to Mr. Théodat, there is in this file “ a double incompetence “. “ Incompetence of Kenyans to grasp the historical interest of such an intervention and incompetence of international authorities who do not see that the Haitian people are in dire straits and that they deserve much greater interest “, he laments.
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(And with AFP)