Rashaed Esson
Staff Writer
#Haiti, October 9, 2023 – Deliverance of Haiti from gang control through a Kenyan-led multinational force is now at a standstill as the UN Security Council approved intervention has been blocked by the high court.
The Kenyan Tribunal has to make a ruling on whether any deployment of its defense forces is “unconstitutional.”
Ekuru Aukot, a former presidential candidate and purported expert on Kenya’s constitution, initiated the move at the Tribunal (the equivalent of the country’s supreme court), when he filed a petition questioning the constitutionality of the mission.
Aukot says President William Ruto’s choice to help Haiti by leading a multinational force, violates Kenya’s constitution.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Aukot expressed the need to safeguard the country’s constitution from being “used and abused by whatever foreign powers.”
The future of the mission to Haiti, which received 13 of 15 votes in agreement of the intervention at a UNSC meeting on October 2, will remain in limbo until Tuesday October 24th; the Court should be concluded with its deliberation on the claim by then.
Ruto is on record as saying Kenya’s lead of any stabilization force is hinged on a number of factors, namely: an assessment of the crisis by his security experts; that at least 2,000 personnel are ready to be deployed by different countries; that the U.N. Security Council approve the mission, and that Kenyan lawmakers green light the effort.
Only one of those is left to come to pass; the approval by Kenya’s lawmakers to give the deployment the nod.
Pushback comes from Opposition members in Kenya who question why the plan for the mission was not vetted in-country before the vote at the UN. Media reports suggest some Kenyans are skeptical about the role, or lack thereof of the United Nations.
Additionally, the politicians blocking the mission have expressed that given Kenya’s own struggles and security needs, they are unable to afford sending forces to another country.
Now, the hope and help Haitians had thought was certainly on its way is in jeopardy due to the current impasse.
