The High Court has blocked the Interior Ministry from approving the proposal to send Kenyan Police to Haiti on Monday. This is a mission expected to restore peace in the Caribbean Island that has been dominated by gang violence.
Justice Chacha Mwita, of the High Court issued a conservatory order blocking the government from deploying 1,000 police to Haiti. This ruling was made despite the approval by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on October 2.
The United Nations and Security Council gave Kenya the go-ahead to deploy its police to Haiti. The vote was made by 13 countries in the Council all in support of the move. Only two countries, China and Russia didn’t vote on the issue due to their reservations about the blanket use of force to solve the crisis in Haiti.
Legality of sending troops to Haiti
The Third Way Alliance through Ekuru Aukot, challenged the legality of the move by Alfred Mutua. They filed a petition against the move which would pose a direct challenge to the US-backed mission.
”That a conservatory order is hereby issued restraining the opponents from deploying police to Haiti or any other Country until October 24, 2023,” Justice Mwita ordered in the ruling.
Eugene Wamalwa, Former Defence Cabinet Secretary and Willy Mutunga, Former Chief Justice also labelled the move as illegal and risky.
According to Mutunga, sending troops would be unconstitutional and set precedence for consistent disregard of what the Constitution states. He further mentioned that the Kenyan police are not well equipped to adequately deal with the gangs that have become prevalent in the country. Furthermore, he stated that the move would be unconstitutional since the citizens have not been allowed to have a say in the matter.
Read Also: UN Votes to Send Kenyan Police to Haiti
After the approval was made by the UN Security Council, the foreign minister mentioned that all that was left was the decision being tabled in parliament. This would allow the lawmakers to vote on whether the Kenyan troops should be sent to Haiti or not.
The move to deploy the Kenyan police to Haiti has opened up the country to scrutiny. Some protesters were seen mentioning Kenya as a puppet by the Western countries. Others criticise Kenya as a country out to receive financial benefit or fame at the risk of its police officers.
The ruling issued by the High Court directly stops the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from signing off on the matter. Consequently, the Kenyan troops will not be deployed to Haiti until the next hearing scheduled for October 24th.
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