The government will seek parliamentary approval for the deployment of police officers to Haiti, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei has said.
Commenting on X, PS Sing’oei said with the passing of the the UN Security Council resolution on Monday, the government will seek parliamentary approval ahead of the deployment.
“On what basis would we have gone to parliament? Kenya, in line with her commitment to peacekeeping, offered to contribute troops, but only after the UN sanctions it. Now that UNSC Res 2699 (2023) has been adopted, I am certain the government will meet its constitutional obligations & seek necessary parliamentary authorization,” Sing’oei said, responding to a query by lawyer Waikwa Wanyoike.
Constitutional lawyer Wanyoike had raised concerns about the procedure of the deployment through a tweet: “Did we not put the cart before the horse on this [deployment]? Should we not have sought first our Parliament’s approval for the mission before going to the UN to seek its approval and promise to lead mission? What if our Bunge (theoretical, though it may be) says NO?”
Although the lawyer acknowledged the plan to take the matter to Parliament, Wanyoike said the logical constitutional sequencing was to go to Parliament after the National Security Council decided on the mission (assuming it did) before promising the world peacekeepers when there are potential domestic legal hold backs.
Responding to this, PS Sing’oei said expressing willingness to contribute or even lead a mission’ is not the same as committing troops.
“The latter can only happen after constitutional conditions for deployment are satisfied,” the PS said.
https://x.com/SingoeiAKorir/status/1709132645995589637?s=20
He had noted that the adoption by the UN Security Council of Resolution 2699/2023 under Chapter VII authorising deployment of a Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti, was historic and creates avenues for addressing Haiti’s multidimensional security crises.
President William Ruto welcomed the approval by the UNSC, saying the mission will provide a different footprint in the history of international interventions in Haiti, and emphasized that it is aimed solely at providing an appropriate environment for the leadership, both of the political and civil society sectors to usher in stability, development and democratic governance, through a political framework owned and driven by the people of Haiti.
The President said Kenya possesses excellent international peace-mediating, peace-making, peace-building and peace-keeping credentials.
“From East Timor and the former Yugoslavia to Eritrea and Angola all the way to Sierra Leone, we have always stood ready and willing to do our part to bring peace, security and stability. This is why we cannot turn away from Haiti. Doing nothing in the face of human suffering is therefore absolutely out of the question,” Ruto said.
