By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Kenyan leader, William Ruto on Saturday visited his country’s policemen assisting to bring stability in Haiti, a nation suffering from activities of gangs who have taken control of a large part of the capital, Port-au-Prince and nearby areas.
During the visit, Ruto promised that additional policemen, numbering about 600 will in coming weeks be dispatched from the East African country to the Caribbean nation, bringing to 1,000 the total number of Kenyan contingent assisting the police force in Haiti.
“Our next batch, an additional 600, is undergoing redeployment training. We will be mission-ready in a few weeks’ time and look forward to the requisite support to enable their deployment,” he stated.
President Ruto also said he supported turning the current Kenya-led security mission into a full United Nations peacekeeping operation.
Other countries have also indicated readiness to assist Haiti with at least 1,900 more troops.
Addressing the Kenyan police officers at their base in Port-au-Prince, President Ruto commended the force for their successes over the last few months.
“There are many people who thought Haiti was mission impossible, but today they have changed their minds because of the progress you have made.”
He said they would succeed against the gangs and he promised to try to get them better equipment.
The nearly 400 Kenyan officers on the ground were going out on patrol “working hand-in-hand with Haitian forces to protect the people and restore security”, Ruto said.
Heritage Times HT gathered that there exists about 200 armed gangs operating in Haiti, about half of which have a presence in Port-au-Prince. In the capital, there are two major gang coalitions.
The first, the G9 Family and Allies alliance, or simply G9 is led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, a former Haitian police officer who is under UN and United States sanctions for his involvement in Haiti’s violence.
The second is GPep, led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre, also known as Ti Gabriel. He was the leader of a gang called Nan Brooklyn before the creation of G-Pep, which has been based in Port-au-Prince’s impoverished Cite Soleil district.
G9 and GPep have been rivals for years, battling for control of neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince.
Both groups have been accused of mass killings and sexual violence in areas under their authority, as well as in districts they want to take over
