President William Ruto has affirmed Kenya will go on with the Haiti Peace mission after a phone call with US Secretary Of State Antony Blinken.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, Ruto said Blinken briefed him on the decision of the Summit of Caribbean Countries (Caricom) and the US, together with other partners, on the political situation in Haiti.
“Had a telephone conversation with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the developments in Haiti. @SecBlinken briefed me on the decision of the Summit of Caribbean Countries (Caricom) and the US, together with other partners, on the political situation in Haiti,” read the statement in part.
The US Secretary of State also informed President Ruto that a new Presidential Council will be formed shortly to manage the situation in Haiti.
Ruto on his part assured Blinken that Kenya would resume the mission as soon as the council was in place and a process agreed upon.
“I assured Secretary Blinken that Kenya will take leadership of the UN Security Support Mission in Haiti to restore peace and security in Haiti as soon as the Presidential Council is in place under an agreed process,” Ruto added.
This comes after Principal Secretary of Foreign Affairs Korir Sing’oei explained that Kenya decided to delay the Haiti mission after the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
He noted that the lack of a government in Haiti would affect the mission as there would be no anchor or grounds to justify the operation.
“The deal they signed with the president still stands, although the deployment will not happen now because definitely, we will require a sitting government to also collaborate with,” PS Korir said.
“Because you don’t just deploy police to go on the Port-au-Prince streets without a sitting administration,” He added.
