Kenya and Haiti signed a security deal on Friday that Nairobi hopes will satisfy domestic court objections to plans to send 1,000 police officers to lead a U.N.-backed peacekeeping mission to tackle gang violence in the restive Caribbean country.
Kenya first volunteered to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti in response to calls from Port-au-Prince and the United Nations for international support.
Kenya’s High Court blocked the move in January, saying it was unconstitutional and could only go ahead with a “reciprocal agreement” between the two countries.
At a ceremony in Nairobi on Friday, Kenyan President William Ruto and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry said the two governments had signed a “reciprocal instrument” to allow the deployment to go ahead and “discussed next steps.” , to speed up the deployment process.” deploy. “
“We believe this is a historic responsibility because peace in Haiti benefits the entire world,” Ruto said.
The news comes after a day of gun violence in Port-au-Prince. Authorities battled gang members who targeted police stations, the police academy and Toussaint-Louiverture International Airport, reports said.
The violence forced the closure of airports, businesses, government agencies and schools, sending panicked families into the streets.
Gang leader Jimmy Cherizil, known as “Barbecue”, issued a video statement saying armed groups were launching coordinated attacks to overthrow Prime Minister Henry.
He said the groups wanted the prime minister to resign and “liberate the country” and they would “use all tactics” to achieve that goal.
Henry emerged as Haiti’s leader three years ago in 2021 when President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated and Haiti descended into extraordinary violence and chaos. He twice promised to hold new elections but reneged each time.
Gangs control many areas of Port-au-Prince, while Haitian police have been unable to control the violence.
Information for this report was provided in part by The Associated Press, Reuters and AFP.
