RUTO: HAITI MISSION MUST HAPPEN!

Kenyan President William Ruto insists that deploying 1,000 troops to Haiti will happen despite the High Court ruling, which he said was 'misinterpreted.' The deployment was ruled unconstitutional on 26 January because Judge Chacha Mwita said Kenya's National Security Council, which the president leads, does not have the authority to deploy regular police outside the country. Moreover, reciprocity between Kenya and Haiti had not been demonstrated. Ruto said bilateral relations already exist.

Yet, the Haitian people did not elect Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whom the Core Group appointed shortly after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The Core Group comprises the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, Germany, Spain, the United Nations, the European Union and the Organisation of American States.

The pending deployment remains unpopular, both in Haiti and Kenya. Haitians are wary because of previous foreign interventions, marked by sexual abuse, killings and the death of more than 10,000 due to UN forces dumping sewerage in Haiti's water supply.

In Kenya, the Pan-African rhetoric behind the deployment is also under question. With multiple internal security crises, many Kenyans feel the police are best utilised at home. The US footing the $200 million bill also pokes holes in Ruto's push being an African initiative. That's not to mention that, alongside France, the US is most responsible for Haiti's dysfunction. We only need to point to the US-backed 2004 coup against Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

What do you make of Ruto's reaction to the High Court ruling? Let us know below.