President Ruto: We can only support Kenyan troops in Haiti till March

President William Ruto has revealed that the government can support Kenyan police officers deployed in the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti until March next year.

Speaking during a joint press briefing with a visiting Haitian delegation led by Prime Minister Garry Conille, President Ruto also declined to reveal the units deployed in the mission.

"There is information that I can provide to you on matters security but to a certain extent, it is not necessary for us to tell you which unit are participating in this operation because those are security matters. But on the whole, we have a budget that takes us all the way to March next year. So in terms of being able to support our officers on the ground including those who are joining next month, we have resources to make sure that they have every resource they need up to March 2025," he said.

He further announced that an additional 600 Kenyan police officers are undergoing pre-deployment training and will be ready for duty "in the near future".

The President called on the international community to step up its support to the mission whose renewed mandate extends to October next year.

"Yes, we can do more and the partners need to step up. That is correct. We have commitments that our global partners have made and it is my position alongside that of PM here that this is the moment that every partner should step up and provide that critical support for us to be able to undertake the exercise at hand," he said.

In yet another senseless crime, a ruthless Haitian gang brutally murdered 70 people including men, women, and children in the Pont-Sonde area, in the northern agriculturally-rich parts of the country, forcing thousands of others to flee for safety.

"It was a senseless crime and as I said, within hours we were able to deploy significant numbers by road than we had been able to do and secondly and more importantly, we were able to deploy and stay. So this is no longer a reactive, temporary mission, it has become a mission to the end to make sure that we can regain a level of safety that is acceptable in the region," said the Haitian prime minister.

This is the biggest attack the Kenyan team has responded to since its June deployment.

"I am informed that our MSSM officers are already in that region, I'm informed it is a region two-hour drive from Port-au-Prince that for a long time has been held hostage by criminals and gangs but today we have a footprint of both the Haitian police and the Kenyan contingent in that place. Everything is being done to minimise casualties of both our security men and civilians even as we deal with the criminals," said President Ruto.

The visit by the Haitian leader is meant to drum up support for the release of funds and the deployment of the remaining troops to the Caribbean nation.

"Let me be very clear that the presence of the contingents that we have now has been extremely helpful in making the progress that we are seeing now," said the PM.

Some of that progress includes the weakened stranglehold of gangs over the country and generated optimism for better days ahead in Haiti, the mission has also recaptured key sites including the general hospital, the port and the National Palace.

"I am here to make plea to our friends from other countries to come back to the commitments they made and to ensure that as urgently as possible, they are able to make sure that the mission is fully funded, that the police force and contingent from Kenya have the resources it needs to be able to be fully operational," PM Conille said.

Beyond security, Kenyan and Haiti have identified areas of collaboration in trade, tourism, and cultural exchanges which formed part of the discussions held by the leaders during their meeting at State House, Nairobi.

"To achieve lasting change, we must invest in economic growth and social connectivity. This is why Prime Minister Conille and I discussed concrete steps to enhance trade and boost investment between our two nations," President Ruto said.