Kenyan President Visits Haiti to Assess Progress of Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS)

By Jose Aguilar

This week, Kenyan President William Ruto visited Haiti to assess the progress of the Kenyan-led security mission. A spokesperson for Ruto stated that the purpose of the visit was to “visit and commend” the Kenyan police forces working with the Haitian National Police (HNP). While in Haiti, Ruto said he would send 600 additional Kenyan police officers, 300 in October and 300 in November. Ruto was on his way to the United Nations (UN) meetings, where he would try to get more countries to commit efforts to Haiti. The UN is still considering options for supporting Haiti.

William O’Neill, a UN security expert, stated this week that the 400 Kenyan police officers of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) and the HNP lack the logistics and technical capabilities to counter the gangs that still control most of the capital, Port-Au-Prince. The situation has expanded outside the capital since some gang members have fled to areas outside the capital, which worsens the violence since gangs force people to leave their homes and create more internally displaced people, among other issues. O’Neill stated that the mission needs more reinforcements, helicopters, drones, night-vision goggles, and more reliable armed vehicles. Jamaica sent a small group of reinforcements, but this is a small effort compared to the magnitude of the problem.

Lastly, the mandate for the Kenyan-led MSS expires in October of this year, even though Haiti is still grappling with rampant violence. This highlights the complexity of gathering support and funding from the international community for yet another mission in Haiti.