Haiti mission decries delay in delivery of essential equipment, vehicles

The Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM) requires helicopters, essential equipment, and vehicles to perform its tasks effectively, force Commander Senior Assistant Inspector General of Police Godfrey Otunge told a delegation of eminent persons from the Bahamas on Tuesday.

The delegation led by Dr Kenny Anthony, Eminent Persons Group (EPG) Coordinator and former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, and Bruce Golding, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica sought to understand how MSSM had taken off and some of the challenges that needed to be addressed to enable other contributing countries to send their personnel to Haiti for the Mission.

The team is on an official six-day visit to Haiti during which it is scheduled to meet with top government officials.

Kenya is the lead force in the MSSM and the only country that has deployed so far, with scores of others expected to deploy in the coming months.

The Force Commander also stressed the rationale behind their desire to create Forward Operating Bases (FOB) and the listed equipment for the mission during the meeting was also attended by Ambassador Director General Jerusa Ali, Ambassador Colin Granderson- Special Advisor on Haiti to the CARICOM Secretary-General, Elizabeth Solomon- Assistant Secretary-General (Foreign and Community Relations, CARICOM Secretariat) Anna Lisa Jones-Reis-Officer, Foreign and Community Relations, CARICOM Secretariat and Captain Chapell Whyms-Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Speed up deployment

The team assured the Kenyan police of their commitment to seeing the Mission succeed and promised to help speed up the deployment of other contributing countries, especially from CARICOM.

Haitian National police SWAT unit and Kenyan Police patrol through a neighborhood after the arrival of the first contingent of Kenyan police as part of a peacekeeping mission, in Port-au-Prince, on June 28, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo)

"They regretted the slow delivery of essential equipment and vehicles," they said as confirmed by a statement issued by the MSSM early Wednesday morning.

When Kenya deployed its first batch of 200 officers on June 25, the team began with monitoring and patrolling Port au Prince, the country's capital as well as protecting critical infrastructure such as airports.

Three weeks later, the second batch was deployed and has since been collaborating with the local police to recapture some of the critical infrastructure while extending its patrol areas.

As the advance force, Kenya is expected to prepare grounds for the deployment of other countries' forces in renewed efforts to end armed gang violence in the Caribbean nation.

The delay in equipment provision is according to Haitian media getting in the way of locals' expectations of the MSSM that, they hoped would deploy and begin fighting the gangs immediately.

Notably, the mission has only engaged the gangs on a few occasions including; mid-last month when they started patrolling areas downtown and during Prime Minister Garry Conille and Haiti's police chief's visit to the capital's largest hospital that had fallen to the hands of the gangs.

Though currently at the pre-deployment stage, the mission is mandated to support the Haitian police restore security in the country paving the way for long-term stability.

So, far, the force Commander says his team has overseen the successful takeover of the General Hospital, seaport, Ganthier town, pacified roads leading to seat port from the airport, and intensified security at the airport with round-the-clock patrols as part of the mission's strategy to ensure Haiti achieves peace and stability.