Nairobi, Kenya — Four hundred Kenyan security officers arrived in Haiti on Tuesday, part of a contingent of international police forces sent to quell gang violence and restore democratic rule in the Caribbean nation. At the same time, protests over proposed tax increases in Kenya turned violent as demonstrators stormed the parliament building, and clashes with police turned deadly.
Some of the protesters question the point of sending police to Haiti when there is such unrest in Kenya.
"They went yesterday to Haiti but it's so ironic because back at home here, we don't have peace, the police themselves are fighting us ... but we have taken our police to Haiti to fight people from other nationalities, when at home we are not at peace," one protester named Denish said. "I think the government tries to tell us we don't have a voice, we don't have a say."
Kelvin Moses was not a protester Tuesday, but he echoed those views.
"For me it's a double-edged sword, because you can't take some troops out of the country when the same country is facing instability, so it's like you are trying to help a neighbor whereas your house is on fire," he said. "So, for me it's self-centered ... we don't know what procedures have been taken, there was a court order which halted the same process from going on, but the government has bulldozed its way to send troops to Haiti."
Speaking at a send-off ceremony earlier this week, Kenyan President Willam Ruto told police officers departing for Haiti their mission will help lasting peace return to the conflict-ravaged country.
"This mission is one of the most urgent, important and historic in the history of global solidarity. It's a mission to affirm the universal values of the community of nations and a mission to take a stand for humanity," Ruto said at the ceremony.
Last year, a United Nations Security Council resolution approved the Kenyan-led mission to help tackle violence and restore peace in the mostly gang-controlled nation. But earlier this year the High Court of Kenya ruled against the deployment, saying it was unconstitutional. Issues cited by the court include the lack of a "reciprocal agreement" between the countries.
The Kenyan government eventually secured that agreement, but the same people who sued the government recently filed another lawsuit seeking to block the deployment. The High Court has yet to make a ruling.
Javas Bigambo, a Kenyan lawyer and governance consultant, expressed concern over the possible fallout following a decision.
"In the event this issue is settled as unconstitutional again, what then will befall the Kenyan government, especially on the part of the executive; the issue of security officers being deep in mission in Haiti and perhaps being demanded they'd be recalled back to base, back to the country, it's something that will leave a very bad taste in the mouth of the leadership of the country," Bigambo said.
Bigambo told VOA that while this mission puts Kenya on the global map as a player in international peacekeeping, all Kenyan eyes will be on Haiti to see whether the police are making a difference.
"The success of this mission or its failure is what now will determine whether there was wisdom and appropriateness in the deployment of Kenyan police forces to Haiti," Bigambo said. "Secondly, the way the peace mission will be handled and how the number of casualties that will emerge or fail to emerge from the deployment will also count among the major success factors."
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In a televised address to the nation late Tuesday evening, Ruto condemned protesters' storming of the parliament as treasonous and a threat to national security.
In a subsequent address to the nation Wednesday, the Kenyan president said that after reflecting on the content of the finance bill, and listening to the people who are against it, he decided not to sign it. His deputy Rigathi Gachagua appealed to the demonstrators to call off planned protests Thursday.
