Kenya to Lead Haiti’s Peace Mission

Written by Jose Miguel Lopez | October 1, 2023

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On Monday, the United States and Kenya signed a security deal that aims to guide the defense relations between the two countries for the next five years. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin along with Kenyan Minister of Defense Aden Duale were responsible for this deal, praising it as a strategic win that will create mutual benefits, helping stabilize the region. This is due to the ongoing regional threat Al-Shabaab represents for Kenya and other countries. Al-Shabaab is an Islamist Shia group based in Somalia that operates throughout East Africa and has ties to Al-Qaeda. The deal will help strengthen Kenya’s military by providing better equipment and training.

Aside from signing the deal, Kenya also announced its intent to lead a multinational peace mission to Haiti, which has been delayed multiple times as no country wanted the position. The announcement is a surprising development, as in previous months the U.S. had unsuccessfully approached Canada and France to lead the mission. Haiti’s security situation has been rapidly deteriorating with rampant gang violence affecting daily life and control of urban centers. The UN Security Council approval for a peace mission is pending, however, the concept has been supported by the U.S. and UN community.

The U.S. position has been solidified as it has guaranteed financial and logistical support for the peace mission. This leads to some speculation as to whether the security deal was contingent upon Kenya assuming leadership for the peace mission. Regardless of who leads the mission, there are some existing concerns about its potential success. One major obstacle is the language barrier as Haitians speak French and Creole and Kenyans speak English and Swahili. There are viable solutions to language barriers such as translators, but this will only add to the complexity of the mission. Secondly, historical records show that interventions in Haiti have failed to stabilize the country and human rights abuses have occurred during security operations. With the commitment of 1,000 security officers by Kenya these challenges will be hard to overcome, jeopardizing their ability to succeed. It’s clear to see that the U.S. cares about the stability of Haiti as it is located in “[their] backyard.” As the situation progresses it will be important to observe the UN Security Council decision as it will affect the approach to the situation.