PLO Lumumba on Haiti & Why Kenya Force is not Pan-African

Pan-African scholar and lawyer PLO Lumumba shared his views with African Stream on the announced deployment of Kenyan cops to Haiti. Heralded as a humanitarian, Pan-African initiative, he says the fact that it’s happening at Washington’s behest completely undermines it - as the US is one of the main destabilising forces on the island, alongside the likes of France. It was after a Kenya-Canada meeting that Kenya’s Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua made the announcement, with the US pledging to foot the bill - up to $200 million.

Haiti has been deemed in need of urgent intervention due to a security crisis driven by mounting gang violence. However, given that the US itself faces similar problems, while the likes of Jamaica have been under a state of emergency for a significant part of the year, it’s unclear why Haiti should get special treatment.

If stability in Haiti were the noble cause the West pretends it is perusing, why has it at every turn sabotaged Haiti’s development? France made Haiti pay slave owners and the US robbed Haiti’s gold. It also propped up the dictatorship of François Duvalier and orchestrated the overthrow of the popular leader Jean Aristide.

With a Kenyan court halting the deployment of Kenyan officers to the island for now, PLO Lumumba says it should be a time for reflection. By all means, let Africa help its brother nation in the Caribbean - but it must be a homegrown initiative, not one pushed down Haiti’s throat by the West. Why should Kenya be the ‘Black face’ of American imperialism?

Warning: contains graphic image.