Businessman and Safina Party leader Jimi Wanjigi has challenged President William Ruto to pay a previsit to Haiti before the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to address gang violence in the Caribbean country.
Speaking to the media on Sunday, March 3, Wanjigi urged President Ruto to reciprocate the recent visit by Haiti's Prime Minister to Kenya.
"It was very good that the Haiti Prime Minister came to Kenya. That is what somebody who is seeking help does. And I think before we deploy any Kenyan to what we are seeing as a war zone, we should be on a fact-finding mission. That is why I am asking President Ruto to reciprocate the visit of Haitian Prime Minister. He should go and visit Haiti," Wanjigi declared.
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Wanjigi also expressed doubt about the effectiveness of Kenyan police in handling the troubling situation in Haiti noting that the police are not well-equipped.
"That is a war zone. There is nothing like peacekeeping. I don't [think] the police are well equipped for that."
Signed deal
Kenya and Haiti officiated the deal to deploy 1,000 police officers to Haiti, with the agreement witnessed by President Ruto and Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Nairobi on Friday, March 1, 2024.
This comes hot on the heels of the High Court ruling the deployment unconstitutional, citing a lack of proper procedure and authority.
"It is my finding that the National Security Council and National Police Service (NPS) do not have powers at all to deploy police outside Kenya. I therefore find the deployment of 1,000 police officers to Haiti in a UN-approved mission unconstitutional, null and void, "Justice Chacha Mwita ruled.
Adding;
"An order is hereby issued prohibiting the purported deployment of police officers to Haiti or any other country, otherwise and in contrary with Sections 107 and 108 of the National Police Service (NPS) Act."
Despite the court's ruling, the Head of State asserted that the plan would proceed as agreed.
He clarified that Kenya and Haiti already had established bilateral relations, and the deployment only required a formal request from Haiti.
Ruto stated that the deployment could happen as early as next week once the necessary paperwork between the two countries was completed.
