Kenya and Haiti Sign Police Deployment Agreement

Kenya and Haiti signed a "reciprocal" agreement to deploy police from the East African country to lead a UN-backed law and order mission to the gang-plagued Caribbean nation, Kenyan President William Ruto said.

Ruto said he and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry had "discussed the next steps to enable the fast-tracking of the deployment", but it was not immediately clear whether the agreement would counter a court ruling in January that branded the deployment "illegal".

Haiti's government has pleaded for international help to confront violence that has cost thousands of lives, as armed gangs take over entire swathes of the country, leaving the economy and public health system in tatters.

Kenya had previously said that it was ready to provide up to 1,000 personnel.

But a Nairobi court said the decision was unconstitutional, in part because the two countries had not signed a reciprocal agreement on the issue.

Ruto said he and Henry had "witnessed the signing" of a reciprocal agreement in Kenya's capital Nairobi. Details of the document have not been made public.

"I take this opportunity to reiterate Kenya's commitment to contribute to the success of this multinational mission. We believe this is a historic duty because peace in Haiti is good for the world as a whole," Ruto said in a statement.

The prime minister, who is on a visit to Nairobi, told an audience of university students he aimed to "have elections as soon as possible".

"We need elections to stabilize the country," he said, but offered no specific timeframe for the polls.

"In October 2022, we asked the world to give us a helping hand. President Ruto was the first one to agree to come to Haiti and we want to say thank you to him," Henry said.

"We thank Kenya for its active solidarity."

Last year saw nearly 5,000 homicides counted in Haiti, more than double the number in 2022, according to a UN report.