Kenyan Police in Haiti have threatened to resign should President William Ruto’s administration fail to solve their problems, including timely payment of their wages.
It is alleged that the police officers have not received their wages for the past three months.
However, the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja on November 5, refuted the allegations, noting that the officers had already been paid their wages in full.
The inspector also added that the situation in Haiti had immensely improved on the back of the government’s efforts to resolve most of the challenges facing the contingent
His sentiments were backed by Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo who clarified that the United Nations was the organisation mandated with paying the officers and not Kenya.
“The Kenyan team is part of the United Nations multi-support team in Haiti and its term of engagement is well defined on who is paying for that support, and it is the United Nations,” Omollo said.
Insiders in Haiti termed Kanja and PS Omollo’s sentiments as misleading. According to the officers, most of them were grappling with financial problems as they were unable to support their families back in Kenya.
Apart from calling for better working conditions and timely payment, the officers’ demands have been met with extreme responses, including threats of disarmament.
A section of Kenyan police in the Caribbean nation also lamented that their communication was being controlled to prevent any information about their suffering from leaking back to Kenya.
This comes after Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi revealed that Kenya spent ksh2 billion to fund the Haiti mission. The disbursement was made in September this year according to the report.
