Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit has condemned President Ruto’s initiative to deploy Kenya’s police to Haiti. Ole Sapit argues that the decision is misguided, particularly as communities in the nothern regions of the country are still contending with significant insecurity issues.
“It doesn’t make sense to send troops to Haiti when we have insecurity problems across the country and especially in the North Rift. Our request is that as the government sends police to Haiti, they should also better security across Kenya,” Ole Sapit said.
Majority of residents who fled their homes for safety in the northern region are still facing dire conditions at IDP camps in Lolmolog, Longewan, and Ang’ata Nanyekie.
Ole Sapit, who is currently on a working tour of Samburu County along with local leaders, stressed the urgent need to address insecurity in the North Rift region before committing Kenya’s police to Haiti.
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Philip Lerno, the Loosuk area chief of Samburu West Sub County, said that there is tension due to the presence of bandits in the area.
“Bandits are still active in the area. It’s the National Police Reservists (NPR) who are keeping them at bay but tension is still high in the region since they can decide to strike at any time,” Lerno said.
President Ruto reiterated Kenya’s commitment to deploying 1000 police to Port-au-Prince as part of the U.N Security Council-backed security mission to Haiti.
Speaking alongside U.S President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington D.C, Citizen TV’s Ayub Abdikadir questioned about Kenya’s decision to send police to Haiti, given the ongoing banditry attacks in the North Rift region, which is approximately 12,078 km away from Kenya.
President Ruto said that Kenya remains dedicated to tacking the issue of banditry domestically and he has deployed 3,000 military personnel and 2,000 police officers to the North Rift region to confront and eradicate the banditry threat.
“I made a commitment to the people of Kenya to sort out insecurity in the North Rift. I have followed that with action. As we speak there are 3,000 military officers and 2,000 police officers in the North Rift,” President Ruto said.
“We have also renovated 15 schools and reopened 20 schools that were closed. The exercise is still ongoing.”
President Ruto further underscored Kenya’s commitment to bolstering security within its borders, while also affirming the nation’s broader responsibility to contribute to security efforts beyond its borders.
“We have made tremendous progress in making sure that we create security at home but that does not take away our responsibility. Even as we deployed troops and police to sort out the banditry problem we still deployed 1,000 troops to DR Congo because that is our neighbour,” he said.
“We have deployed 5,000 troops in Somalia because that is equally our responsibility and Haiti should not be an exception. Deploying 1,000 police to Haiti speaks of the same belief and commitment.”
