Second batch of Kenyan troops land in Haiti » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 17 – 200 more Kenya police officers have been dispatched to Haiti under the United Nation backed Multinational Security Support (MSS)  mission aimed at addressing the gang violence in the North American country.

This comes on the back of the deployment of the inaugural batch of 400 police officers in June. In a statement, MSS Commander Godfrey Otunge emphasized the critical role of the Kenyan Contingent in bolstering the mission’s efforts and enhancing the capacity of the Haitian Police to address gang activities.

“The arrival of the additional contingent is a huge reinforcement to the MSS mission and will go a long way in building the capacity of the Haitian Police to curb the activities of the gangs,”he said.

“ The Haiti National Police are already working with the first Kenyan Contingent (KENCON) and we will continue to realize the fruits of our joint efforts that are geared towards enabling Haiti to regain its stability and become an economic powerhouse.”

Kenya is poised to send 1000 police officers to Haiti following parliament’s nod in November last year.

The deployment is being undertaken in batches.

Kenya is leading the mission in what will see other countries including Senegal (350), Burundi (250), Chile, Jamaica, Ecuador, Barbados (200) and Seychelles (190) deploy officers.

Haiti, which became the first black majority nation in the world to win independence, has been under some form of foreign intervention.

But with 13 coups and seven assassinations of its leaders over the past century, the country’s security nightmare was worsened by the rise of gangs.

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