Kenyan Officers in Haiti Receive 3 Choppers Days After Trump Lifted Funding Freeze

The Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti received a significant boost just days after the United States announced a temporary freeze on funding the mission.

In a statement on February 7, MSS revealed they had received a consignment of three helicopters designated to help with the evacuating of the injured in the ongoing batter to secure Haiti from gangs.

The helicopters were flown in by a Ukrainian cargo plane from El Salvador just 45 minutes after the fourth contingent of Kenyan police officers landed.

“In a further boost, just 45 minutes after the Kenya Airways flight landed, a Ukrainian cargo plane arrived from El Salvador carrying three helicopters designated for medical evacuations (Medevac) and casualty evacuations (Casevac),” part of the statement read.

“The day’s events silenced skeptics who had speculated that the mission was on the verge of collapse following the U.S. government’s recent decision to freeze funding to the Trust Fund. The successful arrival of reinforcements and equipment demonstrated that the MSS mission remains fully operational and progressing toward its objectives.”

Following reports that US President Donald Trump froze funding to the mission on February 5, top officials from both Kenya and the multinational mission quickly quashed speculations that the mission was at risk of collapsing without the funding.

Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, Korir Sing’oei was quick to explain that the frozen US funding was uncircumstantial as the United Nations (UN) Trust Fund still held enough funds to carry the mission to the end of September.

He added that several other countries including; Canada, France, Turkey, Spain, Italy, and Algeria had already pledged US$110.3 million (Ksh14.2 billion in current exchange rates by the end of 2024.

“While un-disbursed US contribution to the Trust Fund of $15 million (Ksh1.9 billion in current exchange rates) has been paused as per presidential directive, the Fund has sufficient resources to continue underwriting the Mission until the end of September 2025,” Sing’oei stated.

A few days later, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that the US had not paused all the funding to the mission and had even disbursed some support paraphernalia. 

“The United States has not paused all assistance for the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti.  On the contrary, Secretary Rubio approved waivers to allow for millions of dollars in mission-critical assistance to the MSS mission and Haitian National Police (HNP),” the statement read.

“The Department of State approved waivers for $40.7 million in foreign assistance to benefit the HNP and MSS mission.  This includes logistical contracts to support forward operating bases, a vehicle maintenance contract to support the MSS mission fleet, a medical services contract for the HNP, and transportation services for Department of State-provided equipment deliveries, and contracts that support subject matter experts with the HNP.”