US Envoy Whitman Clarifies Kenya’s Haiti Mission; Assures Payment of Delayed Salaries » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 28 — United States Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, has clarified that the deployment of Kenyan police units to Haiti was initiated by the international community, not by the United States.
This clarification came in response to allegations that Washington orchestrated Kenya’s involvement in the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM) in Haiti, where gangs have been wreaking havoc.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s The Explainer Show, Ambassador Whitman emphasized that the request for Kenya’s participation came from the international community. She explained that while the Biden administration has financially backed the peace mission, the decision to deploy Kenyan police was not directly orchestrated by the US.
“We did not send Kenyan police to Haiti; it was really the international community that asked Kenya to do this, and they are very grateful. We have, however, provided financial support, not only of the equipment but also of $100 million, and other countries are joining in to put boots on the ground,” Whitman stated.
Whitman further explained that the US does not always involve itself directly in all international peacekeeping missions. “We [US] don’t put boots on the ground in every instance; this [Haiti Mission] is one where we decided not to,” she said.
The Ambassador expressed gratitude on behalf of the international community for Kenya’s decision to lead the mission, praising the cooperation between the Kenyan police and the Haitian National Police. “The Haitian National Police are working very closely with the Kenyan police. They have done a very nice job, and the Commander on the ground is doing a very nice job,” she noted.
Regarding the delayed payment of salaries for the officers involved in the mission, Whitman admitted that she was unaware of the issue until she saw a report about it in a local daily. She assured that steps are being taken to resolve the matter, with payments expected by Thursday or Friday of this week, describing the delay as “unacceptable and should not have happened.”
“They should have gotten their remuneration from the day they landed in Haiti. That was an error by omission or, I don’t know what exactly happened,” she added, assuring that efforts are underway to correct the situation.
On August 26, the agency overseeing the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti stated that the salaries of Kenyan police in Haiti would soon be paid. This comes after officers in the Haiti mission complained of not receiving their salaries under the UN-backed operation, despite having been on the ground for two months.
The Multinational Security Support Mission to Haiti said Monday that the process for the disbursement of salaries to the MSSM officers’ accounts has been finalized, and the payments are expected to be reflected in their individual bank accounts this week.
“Going forward, an elaborate mechanism has been put in place where payments will be promptly made at the end of the month,” the mission said in a statement, adding that there is nothing to worry about concerning the welfare of MSS officers, as mainstream processes have been finalized.
The MSSM is anchored under the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy and Trust Fund, facilitated voluntarily by donor countries. Since the deployment of MSSM, the Haitian National Police have reportedly made several milestones, despite being in the early deployment phase of the mission.
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