Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has revealed that Kenya is ready to offer help to the Caribbean island nation of Haiti which has been in turmoil since 2021.
Mutua said that Kenya was ready to send police officers to assist in stabilizing Haiti following gang violence that has left the Caribbean island nation in turmoil.
Mutua revealed that the decision was arrived at after he held discussions with his counterpart from Canada.
“Further, we reviewed Haiti’s situation where gangs have made towns & peoples’ lives unbearable. In this regard, 🇰🇪 has offered to send police officers to assist in stabilizing the country. 🇨🇦 is one of the nations at the forefront in supporting Haiti’s process towards stability,” Mutua tweeted.
Further, we reviewed Haiti's situation where gangs have made towns & peoples' lives unbearable. In this regard, 🇰🇪 has offered to send police officers to assist in stabilizing the country. 🇨🇦 is one of the nations at the forefront in supporting Haiti’s process towards stability.
— Dr. Alfred N. Mutua (@DrAlfredMutua) April 22, 2023
Haitian gangs
The Caribbean country has been in turmoil since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, in 2021 at the hands of Colombian mercenaries with unknown paymasters.
Haiti has not held functional elections since 2019 and the country has been in a fragile state since the 2010 earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people. But Moïse’s death in July 2021 and a new earthquake the following month sent the situation spiralling out of control.
Moïse was replaced by an acting president, Ariel Henry, who is unelected and widely viewed as illegitimate. In September, the G9 gang coalition blockaded the main port and fuel terminal after Henry caused fuel prices to double when he announced a cut to fuel subsidies – a development that brought the crisis to new heights.
The present gangs are primarily affiliated with two groups, G-Pep and G9, which fight for control of the capital Port-au-Prince. An estimated 60 per cent of the capital is under the control of these groups, which terrorize civilians not only with threats of murder, but also abduction for ransom, extortion, and sexual violence, often at random.
Clashes between gangs are becoming more violent and more frequent, as they try to expand their territorial control throughout the capital and other regions by targeting people living in areas controlled by rivals.
