For the second time in a month, Kenya’s High Court postponed a hearing to address the lawsuit filed by the former presidential candidate of the Third Way Alliance, Ekuru Aukot, against the deployment of Kenyan police troops to Haiti as part of UN-mandated (but not UN-run) Multilateral Security Support Mission (MSS). The High Court postponed an initial Oct. 24 hearing on the matter until Nov. 9, and then postponed it again until Nov. 16, reported the Haitian Times on Nov. 9. The issue of the police deployment is on hold until the High Court makes a decision on Aukot’s petition.
Aukot, who is backed by other Kenyan politicians, argues that the deployment of 1,000 police to Haiti to help combat armed gangs is illegal, as Kenya’s Constitution prohibits police officers from operating outside the country’s borders. The other crucial point he makes is that the Haitian government, run by illegitimate Prime Minister Ariel Henry, never formally requested Kenya’s police assistance. It was all arranged between Kenyan President William Ruto and U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Kenya’s involvement is just to put a black face on what is clearly a U.S. operation. Up until UN Security Council approved the U.S.-Ecuadorian resolution mandating the MSS on Oct. 2, Haiti and Kenya had not even had diplomatic relations.
