Kenyan President William Ruto arrived in Haiti on Saturday as the United Nations seeks to support Kenyan and Jamaican forces struggling to contain gangs terrorizing the Caribbean nation.
Ruto stepped off the plane, passing armed officers on a small patch of red carpet flanked by other officials.
He headed to a Kenyan base at the airport where he met with police battling the gangs and several Haitian officials.
Kenya was the first nation to send forces as part of a larger U.N. effort to support Haiti, which has spiraled into conflict and political turmoil following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
About 400 Kenyan police are currently in Haiti. Earlier this month, around two dozen police and soldiers from Jamaica also arrived in the country.
However, the United States and other countries have stated that the forces are insufficient and lack the resources to take on gangs, which control about 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The mission is expected to have a total of 2,500 personnel, with the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, and Chad also pledging to send police and soldiers, although it is unclear when that will happen.
While the U.S. has considered the idea of a U.N. peacekeeping force, it remains controversial due to past issues such as the introduction of cholera and sexual abuse cases involving U.N. troops in Haiti.
Meanwhile, a U.N. human rights expert warned on Friday that gang violence is spreading across Haiti and that Haiti’s National Police still lack the “logistical and technical capacity” to fight gangs, which continue to encroach on new territory.
Ruto’s visit also comes days after Haiti created a provisional electoral council, long sought by the international community, to facilitate the first general election held in the country since 2016.
In the power vacuum left by Moïse’s assassination, gangs have seized more power. Many hope a general election will help restore order to Haiti alongside the peacekeeping mission.