President William Ruto held a telephone conversation on Thursday evening with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on key issues of concern, including the Haiti mission.
During the call, the two leaders reviewed bilateral relations between Kenya and the US and reaffirmed their mutual commitment to strengthening existing cooperation.
According to President Ruto, the United States Secretary of State confirmed that America had not stopped its support for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti, as alleged.
The two also acknowledged the critical need to sustain momentum for the peacekeeping mission and its role in stabilizing Haiti and restoring order.
US Secretary of the State Marco Rubio.
Photo
Britannica
Secretary Rubio and President Ruto also discussed regional peace and security in Africa, particularly the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Ruto informed the US Secretary of State about the upcoming joint meeting between the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC).
The meeting, scheduled for Friday, February 7, and Saturday, February 8, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was organised as part of broader efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern DRC.
President Ruto’s phone conversation with Rubio came a day after reports circulated online suggesting that the United States had withdrawn its support for the peacekeeping mission in Haiti.
The reports indicated that US President Donald Trump had written to the United Nations (UN) announcing the withdrawal from the mission and a subsequent freeze on Ksh1.7 million allocated for it.
However, the US government dismissed these claims, clarifying that it had not paused all assistance for Haiti’s Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission.
In a statement on Thursday, February 6, the US revealed that Secretary Rubio had approved waivers allowing for millions of dollars in mission-critical assistance to the MSS mission and the Haitian National Police.
Trump’s administration also disclosed that as recently as Wednesday, February 5, the United States had delivered much-needed heavy armoured equipment to the MSS mission and the Haitian National Police in Port-au-Prince.
A contingent of Kenya Police Officers at the Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti on January 19, 2025, when they arrived for deployment.
Ministry of Interior