Kenya’s Haiti Mission Bolstered as Guatemala, El Salvador Send Troops

The Kenyan-led Haiti peacekeeping mission received a New Year’s boost on Friday after Guatemala and El Salvador troops arrived in the disturbed territory.

According to media reports, the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti received the reinforcements after a long delay that has seen the mission flatter in the last two months.

Guatemala, which had promised 150 military police, sent 75 officers, while El Salvador, which had committed to supporting the mission with 78 soldiers for medical evacuation operations and three helicopters, sent eight officers.

While these numbers fall short of the promises made by the two states, they come at a time when Kenya has yet to send 600 police officers due to funding delays.

But that is not the only challenge. Despite some 10 countries together pledging over 3,100 troops for Haiti, few have so far deployed, which has left the number of troops seeking stability in Haiti unable to stem the tide.

The new arrivals to Haiti were received by the President of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, Leslie Voltaire, alongside Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime and US Ambassador Dennis Hankins at Port-au-Prince’s airport.

“They have come to reinforce the Multinational Force in the battle against gangsters in the country,” the government said in a post on social media.

The mission that started in June has had a rollercoaster of seven months, which has forced one of the key backers of the mission, the US to call for a change. The US petitioned twice to have the mission changed to a UN Peacekeeping Mission in a bid to unlock funding. Both attempts at the UN Security Council were unsuccessful.

In December last year, it emerged that the funding issues that have plagued the mission run deep, with reports indicating that the United States, the United Nations, and other international partners are yet to release funds to Kenya for the deployment of 600 police officers.

The reports came hot on the heels of a Reuters expose indicating that at least 20 officers, including some senior officials within the Kenyan contingent, had submitted their resignation letters due to pay delays.

Police bosses both here at home and in Haiti refuted this claim.

It remains unclear at the moment what the new additions will be doing, however, the MSS Mission Force Commander, Godfrey Otunge, has exuded confidence that the mission will achieve its goals.

“I am deeply thankful for the progress we have achieved together through sacrifice, dedication, and hard work in building a safe and secure Haiti. Despite challenges, we have united to overcome them, and the New Year renews our hope and determination to advance toward greater prosperity for the Haitian people,” Otunge stated in his New Year’s message.