Government police deployment to Haiti is halted by a high court
Government police deployment to Haiti is halted by a high court
The High Court prevented the Interior Ministry on Monday from authorizing a plan to send Kenyan police officers to the volatile Caribbean island of Haiti in an effort to bring about peace. Following the UNSC’s approval on October 2, Justice Chacha Mwita issued a conservatory order preventing the government from sending 1,000 police to Haiti.
That until October 24, 2023, a conservatory injunction prohibiting the respondents from sending police officers to Haiti or any other nation be issued, Justice Mwita ruled. The legitimacy of the action has been contested in the petition, which was submitted by the Third Way Alliance through Ekuru Aukot on October 6. This might put the US-backed operation in jeopardy.
Justice Mwita claims that the court was convinced that the concerns stated by the petitioners in their lawsuit were urgent matters of national significance. As a result, the respondents were given three days following the decision to file their responses.
The court filing stated that the petitioners would then have three days following service to submit and serve any supplemental affidavits, if any, as well as any written responses to the petition, which could not be longer than 10 pages. The order stated, in part, “That once served, the respondents will have three days to file and serve written submissions to the petition, also not exceeding 10 pages.”
Third Way Alliance and Miruru Waweru sued National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, and four other people in the petition in question. A multinational team commanded by Kenya was given permission by the UN Security Council to send police to gang-infested Haiti.
Thirteen of the council’s fifteen members voted in favor of the deployment, two abstained, and none opposed it. The US has already promised to provide Kenya with Ksh 14.8 billion ($100 million) to help with the operation.
