Kenya has formalised the planned deployment of 1,000 police officers to Haiti by signing an agreement.
The agreement was signed in Nairobi on Friday afternoon by security ministers from the two countries in the presence of President William Ruto and Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The agreement was signed despite a court order that described the planned deployment as unconstitutional because the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) can be sent on such missions outside the country.
Lat month High Court judge Justice Chacha Mwita said the National Security Council, the government’s top security organ, does not have the legal powers to deploy regular police outside of the country.
“An order is hereby issued prohibiting deployment of police officers to Haiti or any other country otherwise in compliance with part 14 that is sections 107 and 108 of the national police service act,” Mwita ruled.
“Deployment should be as provided for in part 14 of the Act and only to a reciprocating country. It is not contested that there is no reciprocal arrangement between Kenya and Haiti and for that reason, there can be no deployment of police to that country,” the judge said.
He recognized that Kenya’s offer to help mitigate a humanitarian crisis in Haiti was noble. However, he maintained that such deployment needed to be undertaken in accordance with the Constitution.
