Samuel Wambua
The final group of 600 Kenyan police officers is preparing for deployment to Haiti, with their departure set for November 27.
These officers, who graduated on November 8 after completing an eight-week training program, have been granted a two-week break to rest before the mission. They are from both the Kenya Police and Administration Police Service (APS), with the General Service Unit (GSU) contributing 200 officers, and the remainder coming from the APS, including the all-female Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.
The training, which began in August, was originally planned to last 18 weeks but was shortened to expedite the deployment in response to the urgent need for support in tackling gang violence on the ground. The program covered physical conditioning, international relations, specialized weapons handling, and close-quarter combat techniques, often associated with officers from the Recce Company.
Selection criteria required officers to have at least five years of service and proficiency in English, among other qualifications.
Kenya has already deployed the first batch of about 400 officers to Haiti, and a total of around 2,900 troops from at least 10 countries are expected to participate in the Kenyan-led mission. However, since the mission commenced in June, only about 430 troops have deployed, with nearly 400 of them from Kenya.
The deployment follows a recent conversation between President William Ruto and US President-elect Donald Trump, where Ruto congratulated Trump on his election and discussed areas of cooperation, including trade, investment, security, and governance. The two leaders also touched on the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti and potential collaboration with the US on this peacekeeping initiative. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted unanimously last month to extend the mission’s mandate.
Dj Vnyash
