Kenyans wonder why police are being sent to Haiti while unrest is raging in their own country

On Tuesday, 400 Kenyan security officials arrived in Haiti as part of a contingent of international police forces deployed to quell gang violence and restore democracy in the Caribbean country. At the same time, protests against planned tax hikes in Kenya escalated into violence as demonstrators stormed the parliament building and clashed deadly with police.

Some of the protesters question whether it even makes sense to send police to Haiti given the unrest in Kenya.

“They went to Haiti yesterday, but it’s so ironic because here at home we don’t have peace, the police themselves are fighting us… but we sent our police to Haiti to fight against people of other nationalities while there is no peace at home,” said a protester named Denish. “I think the government is trying to tell us that we have no voice, that we have nothing to say.”

Kelvin Moses was not a protester on Tuesday, but he echoed these sentiments.

“For me, this is a double-edged sword because you cannot withdraw troops from the country when the country is affected by instability. This is like helping a neighbor while your own house is burning,” he said. “For me, this is self-centered… We do not know what procedures were initiated. There was a court order that stopped the process, but the government imposed itself by force and sent troops into Haiti.”

At a farewell ceremony earlier this week, Kenyan President William Ruto told police officers heading to Haiti that their mission would help bring lasting peace to the conflict-torn country.

“This mission is one of the most urgent, important and historic in the history of global solidarity. It is a mission to reaffirm the universal values ​​of the international community and a mission to stand up for humanity,” Ruto said at the ceremony.

Last year, a UN Security Council resolution approved the Kenyan-led mission to combat violence and restore peace in the largely gang-controlled country. But earlier this year, Kenya’s Supreme Court ruled against the deployment, saying it was unconstitutional. The court cited the lack of a “mutual agreement” between the two countries as one of its reasons.

The Kenyan government eventually secured the deal, but the same people who sued the government recently filed another lawsuit to block the deployment. The Supreme Court has not yet made a ruling.

Javas Bigambo, a Kenyan lawyer and government adviser, expressed concern about the possible consequences of a decision.

“If this issue is again declared unconstitutional, what will happen to the Kenyan government, especially the executive branch? The question of security officials in Haiti being in the middle of a mission and possibly being asked to recall them to their bases, back to the country, will leave a very bad taste in the mouths of the country’s leadership,” said Bigambo.

Bigambo told VOA that while the mission puts Kenya on the world map as an actor in international peacekeeping, all eyes in Kenya will be on Haiti to see if the police make a difference.

“The success or failure of this mission will now determine whether the deployment of Kenyan police forces in Haiti was wise and appropriate,” said Bigambo. “Secondly, the way in which the peacekeeping mission is managed and how many casualties it causes or not will also be among the most important factors for success.”

In a televised address to the nation late Tuesday night, Ruto condemned the protesters’ storming of Parliament as treason and a threat to national security.

In a subsequent address to the nation on Wednesday, the Kenyan president said he had considered the contents of the finance bill and listened to opponents and therefore decided not to sign it. His deputy Rigathi Gachagua appealed to demonstrators to call off protests planned for Thursday.