On Friday, Kenya's High Court stopped the government from deploying police officers to fight gang violence in Haiti.
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High Court judge Justice Chacha Mwita said the National Security Council, the government's top security organ, does not have the legal powers to deploy regular police outside the country.
"An order is hereby issued prohibiting deployment of police officers to Haiti or any other country otherwise in compliance with part 14 that is sections 107 and 108 of the national police service act," Mwita ruled.
"Deployment should be as provided for in part 14 of the Act and only to a reciprocating country. It is not contested that there is no reciprocal arrangement between Kenya and Haiti and for that reason, there can be no deployment of police to that country," the judge said.
He recognized that Kenya's offer to help mitigate a humanitarian crisis in Haiti was noble. However, he maintained that such deployment needed to be undertaken in accordance with the Constitution.
In July 2023, Kenya volunteered to lead a multinational security force in Haiti to quell gang violence and later offered to send 1,000 officers to Haiti after the Caribbean nation requested international help to fight the gangs.
A team of Kenyan police to be deployed to Haiti completed their circulating training from various camps on Jan. 4. The team was told to take a brief rest ahead of a key ruling in court on the way forward on their planned deployment.
The application was made by Thirdway Alliance Party leader Ekuru Aukot who wanted the court to block the deployment, stating that it was illegal.
The government said that although it respects the rule of law, it will challenge the High Court ruling against the deployment to Haiti.
"While the government respects the rule of law, we have however made the decision to challenge the High Court's verdict forthwith," government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
He said Kenya has an outstanding track record of contributing to peacekeeping missions internationally in countries such as South Sudan, Namibia, Croatia, Liberia and Sierra Leone, among others.
"The government reiterates its commitment to honoring international obligations as a member of the community of nations," Mwaura said.