A Kenyan opposition leader had on Wednesday said he would set up a fresh court challenge against the plan to send police officers to gang-ravaged Haiti, after the two countries brokered a deal last week to speed up the delayed deployment.
Ekuru Aukot had informed Reuters that the agreement between President William Ruto and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry was void and had failed to address objections by the judge who prohibited the deployment in January in the aftermath of a lawsuit by Aukot’s party.
Kenya had announced last year that it would lead a multinational force in Haiti, where gang violence has slain thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands, but months of legal wrangling have effectively stalled the entire mission, putting it on hold.
Ruto said at a signing ceremony on Friday that the agreement with Henry would hasten up Kenyan officers’ arrival in Haiti, but his government had yet to provide a timeline or published the deal.
A High Court judge had in January, ruled that the officers could only be sent to Haiti if a “mutual arrangement” was in place with the host government.
According to Aukot, Henry, who came to power after the 2021 assassination of President Juvenal Moise, did not have the legal legitimacy to enter into such an arrangement. He also remarked that Haiti’s laws governing the police were not similar enough to Kenya’s to make a reciprocal agreement possible.
Kenya’s government spokesperson had not immediately responded to a request for comment at the time of making this report.
