A Kenyan court has ruled a plan to send police officers to Haiti to lead a UN-approved mission was unconstitutional, throwing into doubt the future of an initiative aimed at tackling gang violence in the Caribbean nation.
An opposition party in October challenged the government's decision to send 1,000 officers to address a deepening crisis in Haiti, where gang violence killed nearly 5,000 people and forced around 200,000 people from their homes last year.
Kenya had hoped to have its officers in Haiti as soon as this month after the United Nations Security Council approved the mission in October, but a court issued a stay on the deployment shortly after.
Invalid move
Under Kenyan law, the authorities could only deploy officers ab road if a "reciprocal arrangement" was in place with the host government, High Court Judge Chacha Mwita said on Friday.
"Any further action or steps taken by any state organ or state officer in furtherance of such a decision, contravenes the Constitution and the law and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and invalid," Mwita said.
The government has vowed to challenge the ruling with spokesman Isaac Mwaura saying: "While the government respects the rule of law, we have however made the decision to challenge the high court's verdict forthwith."
"The gove rnment reiterates its commitment in honouring its international obligations," he said.
Haiti first requested help in 2022 as gang violence surged but was unable to find a country willing to lead a security mission.
Rising violence
Many governments have been wary of supporting Prime Minister Ariel Henry's unelected administration and intervening in a nation where previous missions have been dogged by human rights abuses.
Kenya finally stepped forward last July, saying it was doing so in solidarity with a brother nation. The Bahamas then committed 150 people, and Jamaica and Antigua and Barbuda said they were willing to help.
The United Nations said this week that it had documented 4,789 people killed by gang violence in Haiti last year, an increase of 119% from 2022, and that another 3,000 were kidnapped.
