Kenya demands greater support for Haiti mission amid U.S. push for expansion

Kenya’s President William Ruto has called for stronger international backing for the Kenya-led mission in Haiti, as the United States pushes to expand the operation into a more robust Gang Suppression Force under new United Nations’ frameworks.
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Ruto revealed that the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission — launched to counter violent gangs in Haiti — is only operating at 40% of its planned 2,500 personnel due to limited global contributions. “I must commend the United States. They did make available logistics and vehicles,” Ruto said, adding that second-hand vehicles provided by the U.S. frequently broke down in hostile areas, endangering Kenyan personnel. “We didn’t, however, get any useful support from any other quarter,” Ruto stressed.
The MSS mission, which Kenya leads with support from Jamaica and Belize, is set to expire on 2 October unless renewed by the UN Security Council. The U.S. and Panama have proposed a resolution to transition the MSS into a larger, internationally governed force supported by a UN field office. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau emphasized the urgency, calling Haiti’s escalating gang violence a humanitarian crisis that has displaced over a million people. Ruto also used the platform to demand Africa’s permanent representation on the UN Security Council, calling its current exclusion “unacceptable and indefensible.” As Haiti teeters on the brink and Kenya leads the charge, Ruto warned: “If we don’t correct the mistakes of the past, we will, most unlikely succeed.”