President Ruto will not visit Haiti during US trip: Kenya

By Brian Okoth

Kenya's President William Ruto will not visit Haiti before or after his state visit to the United States on May 23, a senior government official of the East African nation has said.

There had been speculation that Ruto would make a brief trip to Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince after meeting President Joe Biden in Washington DC. Ruto's trip to the US starts on May 20 to 24.

In October 2023, Kenya offered to lead a multi-national security operation in Haiti, which has faced unrest due to a proliferation of armed gangs.

"There is no chance at all for President Ruto to go down to Port-au-Prince as has been alleged. It is not in the (president's) schedule," Korir Sing'oei, the principal secretary in the foreign affairs ministry, told journalists during a press briefing in Kenya's capital Nairobi on Sunday ahead of Ruto's trip to the US.

Haiti's transitional council

Kenya has offered about 1,000 police officers for the security operation in Haiti. The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin and Chad have pledged personnel for the Kenya-led intervention.

Ruto recently said that he was waiting for Haiti's transitional government to be formed so that his country could lead the UN-backed security mission. His remarks came after the resignation of Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Haiti has since installed a transitional administration, headed by former senator Edgard Leblanc Fils as president, and Ruto now says Kenya is ready to lead the operation, which has seen the US pledge $300 million to fund the mission.

On exactly when Kenya is expected to send its security personnel to Haiti, Sing'oei said on Sunday: "That deployment will happen in the next few days, few weeks."

'Shared commitment'

The US has increasingly grown reliant on Kenya as its main security, diplomatic and economic partner in Eastern Africa.

Ruto's visit to the US "will strengthen our shared commitment to advance peace and security, expand our economic ties, and stand together in defense of democratic values," the White House said in a statement on February 16.

"The leaders will discuss ways to bolster our cooperation in areas including people-to-people ties, trade and investment, technological innovation, climate and clean energy, health, and security," the White House said.

President Ruto will be only the sixth head of state to be accorded a state visit during the Biden presidency. The others are the leaders of South Korea, France, India, Australia and Japan.