WASHINGTON- The president of Kenya, William Ruto, promised that the next deployment of a mission of troops from his country in Haiti will seek to end the gangs criminals who are devastating that country, the poorest in America, plunged into a serious political, social and economic crisis.
Standing next to US President Joe Biden, who has offered financial and logistical help for that mission in Haiti, Ruto stressed that the force aims to “secure that country and put an end to the gangs and criminals who have caused untold suffering.”
Ruto’s words took place within the framework of a state visit to Washington, where the president of the United States displayed all the pomp and circumstance on Thursday to his Kenyan counterpart, whom he considers a privileged ally on the African continent.
The two leaders held a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office that included the topic of Haiti.
“Gangs and criminals have no entity. They have no religion,” Ruto said at a press conference at the White House, assuring that the Kenyan mission “will act firmly and decisively, within the parameters of the law.”
Asked if the Kenyan mission will be able to defeat the gangs that keep Haiti on the brink of anarchy, Biden responded: “Yes.”
“This is a crisis. They are capable of dealing with it,” he added.
The United States government sought a country that would agree to lead a mission in Haiti to avoid assuming that role directly, after a long history of interventions in that Caribbean nation.
“We find ourselves in a situation in which we want to contribute as much as possible, without this resulting, once again, in the United States deciding what should be done,” Biden said.
Troop deployment in Haiti
The Government of Kenya, the country in charge of leading an international mission backed by the UN, announced on Sunday that the deployment of troops will begin “in the next few days, the next few weeks.”
The mission, approved in October by the UN Security Council, was delayed due to the instability that prevails in Haiti and several appeals presented to the Kenyan justice against this operation.
The “deployment will take place in the next few days, the next few weeks,” Korir Sing’oei, principal secretary at the Kenyan Foreign Ministry, told reporters.
In addition to the Haiti portfolio, the Democratic president announced that he intends to name Kenya as the first major non-NATO ally of the United States in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Underscoring the importance of our strategic relationship, President Biden announced his intention to designate Kenya as a major non-NATO ally,” said a statement issued by the two leaders.
It is an official designation that confers military and diplomatic privileges to the countries concerned – currently 18 in the world – but without a formal security guarantee. Kenya would become the first sub-Saharan country on the list.
Ruto is also the first African leader since 2008 to be honored with a state visit – the highest level of diplomatic favor – to Washington.
The United States sees Kenya as a symbol of the values of democracy and economic dynamism that it seeks to promote on the African continent, in the face of the ambitions of China and Russia.
Source: AFP
