Kenya taps extra Sh500m in quarter 3 for Haiti mission

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Kenyan police officers disembark from a plane while arriving as part of a peace-keeping mission to tackle violence in Haiti, at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 18, 2025. 

Photo credit: Reuters

The Controller of Budget (CoB) office approved the disbursement of Sh500.96 billion in the first three months of the year for the Kenya security mission in Haiti, new disclosures show, after facing a cash crunch on the back of the US funding freeze.

The National Police Service (NPS) requested an additional Sh500.96 million for recurrent expenses in Haiti in the third quarter of the current fiscal year.

The CoB says that, on January 8, 2025, NPS requisitioned Sh77.52 million to cater for the multi-agency security support mission to strife hit country. Furthermore, two weeks later on January 23, 2025, the police asked for an additional Sh194.05 million for the same mission.

On March 19, 2025, the NPS demanded a further Sh229.38 million to support the police in Haiti.

The peacekeeping mission has cost taxpayers Sh4.5 billion in nine months at a time when the country is struggling to finance its obligations leading to deep budget cuts in key sectors like health and education.

The Kenya police have been leading a multinational team to support the Haitian National Police (HNP) to restore security in the Caribbean nation, with contributions from countries such as Jamaica, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Benin, and Chad.

Some 800 police officers were sent to Port-au-Prince as part of the planned force.

This arrangement means the multinational security support mission relies on voluntary contributions from member nations and the funding crisis deepened after President Donald Trump froze $13 million (Sh1.7 billion) in US funding that had been wired into the UN dedicated fund.

Citing the cash crunch, in January, this year, Haiti requested the UN Security Council to transform the Kenyan-led mission into a UN peacekeeping operation.

Recently, Brazil’s President Inacio Lula da Silva joined a growing chorus of world leaders’ calls to overhaul the Haiti security mission, days after a visit from Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.

Mudavadi requested Brazil’s expertise and funding to enhance efforts in restoring peace and rebuilding broken communities in Haiti.

President Da Silva said the mission is weak and underfunded, urging the United Nations (UN) to either provide more resources or turn it into a full peacekeeping mission.

At the moment, the UN manages the funds for the Haitian mission, which come from voluntary donations by countries. Many have pledged funds that have yet to arrive.

Questions are, however, being raised about Kenya's priorities, especially setting aside meagre resources for foreign interventions yet the government is finding it difficult to finance crucial programmes due to depressed revenue streams.

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, however, previously defended the Haiti funding mission saying it will be recouped by the government.

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