Kenya Cabinet approves sending police to lead peace mission in Haiti but parliament must sign off

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's Cabinet on Friday approved the deployment of 1,000 police to lead a multinational peacekeeping mission to Haiti to combat gang violence.

The country's parliament must now sign off on the resolution.

From January 1 until August 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 injured, according to the most recent UN statistics.

Kenya's high court on Monday barred the deployment, approved by the United Nations Security Council earlier this month, for two weeks until a challenge to the deployment filed by a local politician is heard on October 24.

On Thursday, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki appeared before a national assembly committee on the deployment and said parliament's approval should be sought before any troops are sent.

The minister was accompanied by the Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome, who confirmed that training had started for the first group of officers to be sent to Haiti.

The Kenya-led peacekeeping force was approved by a United Nations Security Council resolution on October 2.

The mission would be funded by voluntary contributions, with the US pledging up to $200 million.

The deployment has been controversial in Kenya, with opposition leader Raila Odinga last week criticising the country's involvement saying Kenya had its own security challenges.

Kenya has yet to confirm a deployment date for the 1,000 officers it planned to send to Haiti. President William Ruto said on October 3 that the Kenya-led force would “not fail the people of Haiti.”

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