Members of the Kenyan police force pose with members of the Haitian police force as they announce that the Kenyan police will join the fight against armed gangs during a press conference at the General Directorate of Haiti’s National Police (DGPNH) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Clarence Chiffroy/AFP)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Haitian police will soon launch an operation against powerful gangs terrorizing the country, newly appointed police chief Rameau Normire vowed on Monday, along with the leader of a Kenyan contingent sent to help.
“One day people will wake up and realize that a robbery was thwarted by police,” Normir said at a news conference, his first public comments since taking up the role on June 21.
He was accompanied by Godfrey Otunge, commander of the Kenyan contingent, the first personnel ever to be deployed as part of a UN-recognized multinational security force.
“For strategic reasons, we won’t comment on how we will proceed,” Normil said.
Haiti has long been under the control of armed gangs, who now control 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as major roads across the impoverished Caribbean nation.
The situation rapidly escalated at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince, claiming to want to overthrow then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
He eventually resigned and agreed to hand over executive power to a Transitional Council, which appointed a caretaker prime minister and a transitional government.
The U.N. Security Council approved the Kenya-led multinational security force last year but it faced months of delays due to a legal battle in Nairobi and political turmoil over Henry’s resignation.
The first contingent of about 200 troops arrived on June 25th.
Normil said Haitian authorities and the Kenyan team were discussing how to tackle gang violence.
Otunge said he was optimistic about the challenges ahead.
“We have a job that we committed to doing and we have to deliver on it to the best of our ability,” he said.
“The mission is to restore peace throughout Haiti,” Otungue said, adding that “we will achieve this by working closely with the Haitian authorities, and with local and international partners committed to a new Haiti.”
He declined to say when the next contingent of Kenyan troops would arrive in Haiti.
An AFP journalist confirmed that a military transport plane carrying the armoured vehicles arrived in Port-au-Prince this weekend.
